c 

KT7EL 

Cop.E 


Bailey;  J.W! 
Knox  college 


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KNOX  COLLEGE, 


BY     WHOM 


FOUNDED     A.ND     ENDOWED ; 

ALSO  , 

A  REVIEW 

OF  U.L1 


I 

"RIGHTS  OF  CONGREGATIONALISTS   IN  KNOX   COLLEGE." 


:.) 

"/ 


JBY     J. 


CHICAGO: 

PRESS    &    TRIBUNE     BOOK    &    JOB    PRINTING    OFFICE,    51    CLARK    ST. 

I860. 


OCT  15  1930 

DUPLICATE  / 


"I'll'ff: 


-2, 


INTRODUCTION. 


G^LESBURG,  ILL.,  July,  1859. 
REV.  J.  W.  BAILEY  : 

SIR  :  The  Congregational  General  Association  of  Illinois,  at  their 
last  meeting,  adopted,  and  have  since  published  an  elaborate  report, 
presented  by  a  committee  previously  appointed,  entitled  "Rights  of 
Congregation alists  in  Knox  College."  That  report  professes  to  give 
the  results  of  a  thorough  investigation  by  the  committee,  of  the  facts 
in  the  case.  You  know,  as  we  all  know,  that  no  such  investigation 
was  made,  and  that  the  statements  of  the  report,  taken  at  second- 
hand, are  erroneous  in  all  important  particulars.  Believing  that 
such  a  document,  if  not  publicly  disproved,  will  do  much  injury  to 
the  College,  and  injustice  to  the  Board  of  Trustees,  we,  as  resident 
members  of  that  Board,  earnestly  request  you,  at  your  earliest  con- 
venience, to  prepare  a  full  and  well  attested  statement  of  the  origin 
and  endowment  of  Knox  College,  with  special  reference  to  the 
denominational  character,  and  the  purposes  and  intentions  of  its 
founders.  We  wish,  furthermore,  that  you  would  review  and  expose 
;  the  fallacies,  and  misrepresentations  of  the  pamphlet  above  named, 
r^  so  far  as  a  vindication  of  the  past  action  of  the  Board,  and  the 
future  interests  of  the  College  may  seem  to  demand.  By  complying 
with  this  request,  you  will  do  an  important  service  to  the  Institution, 
and  confer  a  lasting  benefit  upon  the  community,  who  are  interested 
and  anxious  to  know  the  truth. 

J.  G.  SANBURN, 
S.  F.  DOLBEAR, 
GEO.  W.  GALE, 
N.  H.  LOSEY, 
J.  BUNCE, 
H.  CURTIS, 
J.  BULL, 
SILVANUS  FERRIS. 

The  above  note  sufficiently  explains  the  reasons  which  led  to 
the  preparation  of  this  pamphlet.  Many  things  have  been  writ- 
ten of  late  concerning  Knox  College,  by  various  parties,  none 
of  whom  have  based  their  statements  upon  a  careful  personal 
examination  of  those  documents  relating  to  the  matter,  which 
alone  can  be  relied  upon  as  containing  the  exact  truth.  Some 


4  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

have  written  from  memory,  which,  however  faithful  it  may  be 
in  presenting  main  facts,  cannot  but  prove  treacherous  some- 
times in  regard  to  minute  details.  Others,  including  almost 
all  who  have  written  against  the  College,  have  been  content  to 
put  in  print  as  matters  of  undeniable  fact,  vagrant  rumors  and  un- 
founded conclusions,  favorable  to  their  purpose,  such  as  always  cir- 
culate through  every  community  which  is  at  all  agitated  by  the  dis- 
cussion of  any  important  question.  In  discharging  the  duty  im- 
posed upon  me  by  the  Trustees  of  Knox  College,  whose  names  are 
attached  to  the  above  note,  I  determined  upon  these  two  things  : 
First,  to  examine  every  book  and  paper  belonging  to  the  College,  or 
to  be  found  elsewhere,  which  related  to  its  history  from  its  origin 
until  now.  Second,  to  select  and  publish  such  portions  of  these 
documents  as  were  necessary  to  enable  the  public  to  form  for  them- 
selves an  independent  judgment  of  the  nature  of  their  testimony. 
In  performing  the  first  part  of  this  labor,  all  the  records  and  reports 
and  correspondence  of  the  original  association  by  whom  the  College 
was  founded,  and  of  their  agents  and  committees,  have  been  care- 
fully read.  The  records  of  the  College,  and  the  many  reports  of 
various  committees  of  its  Board,  from  its  organization  until  the 
present  time,  have  also  been  read.  The  books  and  the  reports  of 
the  Treasurer  have  been  examined  on  all  the  points  involved  in  the 
duty  assigned  me.  The  records  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Galesburg,  which  was  the  first  Church  established  here,  have 
been  read  with  great  care,  from  the  time  the  first  meetings  were 
held  with  reference  to  an  organization,  down  to  the  last  year. 
Much  miscellaneous  matter,  bearing  upon  the  history  of  the  College, 
has  also  received  an  attentive  perusal.  In  all  this  labor,  the  sole 
object  has  been  to  make  myself  personally  familiar  with  all  the  facts 
which  I  desired  to  present  to  the  public,  and  thus  to  escape  the 
charge  of  having  narrated  anything  important  upon  second-hand 
testimony.  I  have  first  examined  the  documents  upon  which  all 
my  statements  are  based  in  every  instance,  and  then  have  given 
these  documents  to  the  public  that  they  may  test  the  accuracy  of 
my  statements.  Only  in  this  way  can  the  public  be  sure  that  they 
are  not  misled.  It  is  not  individual  opinions  upon  controverted 
points  that  is  asked  for  by  those  interested  in  this  matter,  so  much 
as  the  facts  upon  which  all  correct  opinions  must  be  based.  With 
the  facts  in  their  possession,  all  can  form  their  own  opinions.  With- 
out these,  the  public  must  always  remain  in  uncertainty,  especially 
when  opinions  are  divided. 


INTKODTJOTION.  5 

The  publication  of  the  pamphlet  has  been  delayed  beyond  the 
time  when  it  was  first  promised.  This  has  arisen  from  the  pressure 
of  other  duties,  and  from  the  amount  of  labor  involved  in  such  an 
examination  as  I  had  undertaken,  which  has  been  much  greater  than 
anya  one  can  imagine  who  has  never  been  engaged  in  a  similar 
work.  The  pamphlet  is  now  sent  forth  to  the  public  with  the  earn- 
est desire  that  it  may  prove  instrumental  in  correcting  the  many 
errors  which  have  of  late  been  widely  circulated  concerning  the 
College.  That  man  is  not  to  be  envied  who  can  take  pleasure  in 
doing  injury  to  such  an  institution  as  Knox  College.  The  extraor- 
dinary efforts  to  impair  its  usefulness  which  have  been  made  of  late  by 
more  persons  than  one,  indicate  a  state  of  feeling  on  this  subject 
which  cannot  be  regarded  as  praiseworthy.  The  Colleges  of  the  State 
of  Illinois  are  among  its  chief  agencies  for  securing  the  highest 
prosperity  of  the  people.  Whoever  injures  them  commits  a  great 
wrong  against  the  Avhole  State.  The  public  will  not  fail  to  hold  to 
a  strict  accountability,  any  man,  or  any  class  of  men,  who  for  selfish 
ends  decry  and  misrepresent  and  seriously  injure  their  Colleges. 

J.  "W.  BAILEY. 

GALESBCRG,  ILL.,  March,  1860. 


The  undersigned,  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the  Board  of  Trust 
of  Knox  College,  have  examined  carefully  all  the  references  to,  and 
extracts  from,  the  records  and  other  documents  in  our  possession, 
made  by  Rev.  J.  W.  BAILEY,  in  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  Knox  Col- 
lege, etc.,  etc.,"  and  we  hereby  certify  that  such  references  and  ex. 
tracts  are  strictly  correct. 

S.  F.  DOLBEAR, 

Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trust. 

0.  S.  PITCHER, 

Treasurer. 


KNOX    COLLEGE. 


ITS  ORIGIN. 

KNOX  COLLEGE,  in  <*alesburg,  Illinois,  was  founded  on  the  7th 
day  of  January,  in  the  year  1836,  by  a  number  of  persons  then 
living  in  the  State  of  New  York,  who  were  associated  together  as 
Subscribers  to  a  Plan  for  establishing  literary  institutions  in  the 
West.  Those  Subscribers  met  on  that  day,  in  Whitesboro',  N.  Y., 
and  there,  in  accordance  with  their  Plan,  organized  the  College, 
appointed  its  Board  of  Trustees,  and  then  donated  to  it  several 
thousand  acres  of  land  lying  in  Illinois,  where  Galesburg  now  is, 
which  they  had  purchased  solely  as  an  endowment  for  the  College. 
The  sale  of  these  lands  has  furnished  nearly  all  the  money  which 
has  been  required  to  meet  the  current  expenses  of  the  Institution, 
including  the  College  proper,  an  Academy,  a  Preparatory  Depart- 
ment, and  a  Female  Seminary,  and  also  to  erect  large  and  costly 
buildings  ;  and  which  has  so  enriched  its  treasury  that  it  is  now  one 
of  the  wealthiest  Colleges  in  our  land.  The  present  noble  endowment 
of  this  College  has  been  derived  almost  wholly  from  the  liberality 
of  its  founders. 

The  credit  of  the  whole  enterprise  is  due  in  the  first  instance  to 
the  Rev.  George  W.  Gale,  D.  D.,  a  Presbyterian,  from  whom  the 
Plan,  in  all  its  details,  originated,  and  to  whose  persevering  efforts 
and  many  personal  sacrifices  it  owed  its  consummation.  His  Plan, 
in  its  main  features,  was  to  secure  by  subscription,  money  enough 
to  purchase  in  some  desirable  location  in  the  Western  States,  gov- 
ernment land  to  the  amount  of  one  township,  or  thirty-six  square 
miles.  Out  of  this  land  when  purchased,  enough  was  to  be  reserved 
for  the  site  of  a  village,  and  also  of  the  College  which  was  to  be 
organized.  The  remainder  of  the  land  was  to  be  divided  into  farms 
of  convenient  size,  and  appraised  at  an  average  value  of  five  dollars 
an  acre,  which  would  be  just  four  times  the  amount  paid  for  it. 
At  this  increased  valuation,  the  Subscribers  were  to  be  allowed  to 
take  farming  lands  to  the  amount  of  their  subscription.  The  re- 


8  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

mainder  was  to  be  donated  to  the  College.  The  village  property 
was  also  to  be  divided  into  suitable  building  lots,  and  sold  only  to 
actual  settlers.  The  money  thus  obtained  was  to  be  appropriated 
to  an  Academy  and  a  Young  Ladies'  Seminary,  so  far  as  needed, 
and  the  remainder  to  the  College.  The  Circular  and  details  of  the 
Plan  are  here  published,  and  deserve  the  attentive  perusal  of  the 
reader,  as  they  show  the  enlarged  views  of  Mr.  Gale  and  of  those 
who  engaged  with  him  in  founding  the  College,  and  that  the  enter- 
prise was  one  of  pure  Christian  benevolence. 

CIRCULAR  AND  PLAN. 

"  The  indications  of  Providence,  as  well  as  the  requisitions  of 
Christ,  impose  on  Christians  of  this  day  peculiar  obligations  to  de- 
vise and  execute,  as  far  as  in  them  lies,  liberal  and  efficient  plans 
for  spreading  the  gospel  through  the  world.  The  supply  of  an 
evangelical  and  able  ministry,  is  in  the  whole  circle  of  means,  con- 
fessedly the  most  important  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  end  :  all 
other  means  are  the  mere  aids  and  implements  of  the  living 
preacher.  And  yet,  important  as  it  is  to  the  sustaining  of  the 
church,  and  the  conversion  of  the  world,  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  the  business. of  furnishing  a  devoted  and  efficient  ministry, 
has  entered  less  into  the  calculations  of  Christians  at  large,  than 
any  other  department  of  benevolent  effort  of  the  present  day ; 
certainly  much  less  in  proportion  to  its  magnitude.  Perhaps  they 
have  thought  this  a  work  peculiarly  the  Lord's,  in  which  they  had 
very  little  to  do.  But  the  language  of  our  Saviour,  '  Pray  ye  the 
Lord  of  the  harvest  to  send  forth  laborers,'  and  the  fact  that  they 
are  to  be  furnished,  not  by  miracle,  butx  by  the  slow  process  of 
education,  prove,  that  we  have  much  to  do ;  especially  when  we 
look  at  the  field  which  our  own  country,  to  say  nothing  of  the  wide 
world,  spreads  out  before  us  ;  a  field  '  white  for  the  harvest.' 

Who  that  loves  the  souls  of  men  can  look  on  this  field  and  not 
feel  his  heart  affected,  and  not  tax  his  energies  to  the  utmost,  as 
well  as  offer  his  most  fervent  prayers  to  the  Lord  of  the  harvest, 
that  he  would  furnish  the  laborers  ?  Who  that  loves  the  institutions 
of  his  country,  can  look  upon  it  without  alarm,  when  he  reflects  that 
in  a  few,  a  very  few  years,  they  will  be  in  the  hands  of  a  population 
reared  in  this  field  ;  and  reared,  unless  a  mighty  effort  be  made  by 
evangelical  Christians,  under  the  forming  hand  of  those  who  are  no 
less  the  enemies  of  civil  liberty,  than  of  a  pure  gospel  ?  What  is 
done  to  prevent  this  ruin  must  be  done  quickly.  It  is  perfectly 
within  the  power  of  evangelical  Christians  in  this  country,  under 
God,  to  furnish,  and  that  speedily,  all  the  laborers  wanted  on  this 
field,  besides  doing  much  towards  supplying  the  world.  The  men 
are  already  furnished ;  if  not,  '  the  Lord  of  the  harvest '  will 


CIRCULAR   AND   PLAN.  9 

furnish  them.  Hundreds  of  youth  of  talent,  and  piety,  and  enter- 
prise, stand  ready  to  enter  upon  the  work  of  preparation,  whenever 
a  '  wide  and  effectual  door  is  opened '  for  them.  The  manual 
labor  system,  if  properly  sustained  and  conducted,  will  open  to 
them  that  door.  It  is  peculiarly  adapted  not  only  to  qualify  men 
for  the  self-denying  and  arduous  duties  of  the  gospel  ministry, 
especially  in  our  new  settlements  and  missionary  fields  abroad,  but 
to  call  them  out ;  to  induce  them  to  enter  upon  the  work  of  pre- 
paration. It  is  an  important  fact  that  while  other  institutions 
are  many  of  them,  greatly  in  want  of  students,  these,  with  all 
the  disadvantages  under  which  they  have  to  labor,  are  not  only 
filled,  but  great  numbers  are  rejected  for  want  of  means  to 
accommodate  them.  Let  institutions  be  established  on  this  plan, 
having  all  the  requisitions  and  facilities  for  profitable  labor,  in 
connection  with  the  advantages  for  literary  acquisitions  enjoyed  in 
our  well  endowed  seminaries,  and  there  will  be  no  lack  of  students  ; 
especially  if  there  be  added  to  these  the  means  of  gratuitous  in- 
struction to  the  indigent.  Let  such  provision  be  made,  and 
three-fourths  of  the  indigent  young  men  will  ask  no  other  aid  ;  and 
should  they  ask  it,  the  church  would  do  them  a  favor  to  refuse 
them,  and  leave  them  to  their  efforts  to  make  up  the  deficiency. 

It  is  beginning  to  be  believed,  and  not  without  good  reason,  that 
females  are  to  act  a  much  more  important  part  in  the  conversion  of 
the  world,  than  has  been  generally  supposed ;  not  as  preachers  of 
the  gospel,  but  as  help-meets  of  those  who  are  ;  and  as  instructors 
and  guides  of  the  rising  generation,  not  only  in  the  nursery,  but  in 
the^public  school :  it  should  therefore  be  an  object  of  special  aim 
with  all  who  pray  and  labor  for  the  conversion  of  the  world,  to 
provide  for  the  thorough  and  well  directed  education  of  females. 
Experiment  has  already  proved,  that  manual  labor  may  be  success- 
fully introduced  into  Female  Seminaries,  and  that  it  is  highly 
conducive  to  health  and  piety,  and  adapted  to  reduce  the  expenses 
of  education,  sufficiently  to  encourage  many  young  ladies  to  qualify 
themselves  in  such  seminaries  for  fields  of  usefulness,  who,  without 
that  encouragement  would  never  have  put  forth  such  efforts.  What 
has  been  done  on  this  subject  shows  the  importance,  and  proves  the 
feasibility  of  doing  much  more.  It  is  perfectly  in  the  power  of  a, 
few  families  of  moderate  property  to  rear  up  such  institutions,  at 
this  time,  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  on  a  permanent  basis, 
with  a  great  part  of  the  endowment  required,  and  on  a  liberal  and 
extensive  scale,  with  great  advantage  to  themselves  and  families. 
Such  a  plan  is  here  proposed,  with  the  design,  if  it  may  please  the 
Lord,  to  carry  it  into  effect. 

PLAN. 

Let  a  subscription  be  opened  for  such  Institutions  in  some  part  of 
the  valley  to  be  fixed  upon  by  a  majority  of  the  Subscribers,  and 
when  $40,000  shall  have  been  raised,  let  those  who  propose  to  settle 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  Institutions  meet  and  elect  a  Board  of  Trustees, 


10  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

who  shall  have  charge  of  all  the  funds,  the  appointment  of  officers, 
and  perform  other  duties  usually  belonging  to  trustees  of  literary 
institutions.  Let  a  committee  also  be  appointed  by  the  Subscribers, 
to  locate  the  Institutions,  and  make  a  purchase  of  land  under  such 
instructions  as  shall  be  given  them. 

2.  Let  a  tract  or  tracts  of  land  be  purchased  equal  in  quantity  at 
least,  to  a  town  six  miles  square,  at  the  government  price,  if  it  can 
be  so  obtained,  and  let  this  land,  or  so  much  of  it  as  may  be  wanted 
by  the  Subscribers,  be  appraised  at  five  dollars  an  acre,  on  an  aver- 
age ;  every  Subscriber  who  shall  purchase  eighty  acres,  or  half  a 
quarter-section,  to  be  paid  for  by  the  money  subscribed,  shall  be 
entitled  to  the  gratuitous  instruction  .of  one  youth  in  the   College, 
Preparatory   School,   or  Female    Seminary,   for   twenty-five  years, 
which  right  may  be  used,  rented,  or  sold  at  his  pleasure.     The  same 
privilege  shall  be  attached  to  every  eighty  acres  thus  purchased  by 
original  Subscribers. 

3.  After  paying  for  the  land,  the  remainder  of  the  fund  of  40,000 
dollars,  and  as  much  more  as  the  Board  of  Trustees  may  judge  ex- 
pedient, shall  be  expended  as  soon  as  practicable  in  the  erection  of 
College  edifices.     The  title  of  all  land  not  deeded  to  the  original 
settlers,  shall  be  vested  in  the  Board   of  Trustees.     Mill-seats  in 
the  tract  shall  be  at  their  disposal  for  the  benefit  of  the  College  fund. 

4.  Three  contiguous  sections,  of  640  acres,  shall  be  reserved  for 
the  purposes  of  the  College  and  the  village,  to  be  appropriated  as 
the  Board  shall  order.     The  village  shall  be  laid  out  into  lots  by  a 
committee  appointed  by  the  Subscribers,  and  appraised  in  a  manner 
similar  to  the  farms.     Those  who  choose  may  have  a  lot,  or  lots  in 
the  village  at  the  same   rate  that  the  quarter  sections  of  land  are 
appraised  on  average,  with  the  same  right  of  gratuitous  education 
attached. 

5.  All   the  land   purchased,  except    that  of   the    village,   after 
supplying  the  original  Subscribers,  shall  be  sold  or  rented,  as  the 
Board  may  deem  best,  for  the  interest  of  the  College.     Out  of  this 
land  and  such  oth«r  money  as  may  be  obtained,  a  fund  of  50,000 
dollars  should  be  set  apart  in  scholarships  of  400  dollars  each,  as  a 
permanent  fund,  the  interest  of  which  shall  be  applied  to  defray  the 
expense  of  tuition  and  room  rent  for  pious  and  indigent  young  men 
who  have  the  ministry  in  view. 

The  money  arising  from  village  lots  shall  constitute  a  fund  for  the 
erection  of  a  Female  Seminary,  and  Academy,  or  a  preparatory 
school  for  male  youth,  and  for  the  support  of  teachers.  If  the  fund 
amount  to  more  than  50,000  dollars,  it  may  be  applied  to  the  support 
of  the  College. 

6.  The  College  to  be  established  shall  be  on  the  manual  labor  plan, 
every  pupil  being  required  to  labor  not  more  than  three,  nor  less 
than  two  hours  a  day  on  the  farm,  in  the  garden,  or  in  mechanic 
shops.     The   course   of  study  shall  be  liberal   and   thorough ;  the 
Bible,  in   the   original  tongue,  shall   be   made   a   class  book ;  and 
among  others,  there  shall  be  a  professor  who  shall  perform  the  spe- 


CIRCULAR   AND   PLAN.  11 

cial  duties  of  a  pastor  to  the  students  connected  with  the  College 
and  preparatory  school. 

7.  The  Female  Seminary  shall  be  under  the  care  of  a  gentleman, 
as  principal,  who  shall  have  the  general  management  and  spiritual 
instruction  of  the  pupils.     The  immediate  government  and  literary 
instruction  shall  chiefly  be  committed   to  ladies.     The  Institution 
shall  be  of  a  high  order  as  it  respects  instruction,  and  adapted  to 
give   such   an   education  as  an  intelligent  Christian  parent   would 
wish  ;  and  the  instruction  so  directed  as  to  qualify  the  pupils  for  the 
business   of  instructing,  or   for  missionary   or  domestic  life.     The 
preservation  of  health  by  systematic  exercise  shall   receive  special 
attention.     Manual  labor,  so  far  as  it  may  be  desired  by  the  parent, 
or  necessary  to  reduce  expense  for  the  encouragement  of  indigent 
pupils,  shall  be  incorporated  with  it. 

8.  A  Theological  Seminary,  and  Medical  School,  shall  be  estab- 
lished in  connection  with  the  College  as  soon  as  it  shall  be  thought 
best  by  the  Board,  and  funds  can  be  raised. 

9.  One  half  of  the  subscription  money  shall  be  payable  when  the 
sum  proposed  of  40,000  dollars  shall  have  been  subscribed  by  re- 
sponsible persons  ;  and  the  other  half  in  one  year  after,  with  interest 
from  the  time  the  first  instalment  is  due  ;  a  note  being  given  for  the 
same  to  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

10.  These  articles  may  be  amended  or  altered  by  the  Subscribers 
comprehended  in  the  original  subscription  of  $40,000  whenever  a 
majority  of  them  shall  think  best ;  provided  no  right  of  property  is 
infringed,  and  the  essential  constitution  and  design  of  the  literary 
institutions  are  not  changed  thereby." 

With  this  plan  Mr.  Gale  went  almost  exclusively  among  those  of 
his  personal  friends  who  were  connected  with  Presbyterian  churches 
in  Central  and  Eastern  New  York,  and  solicited  their  cooperation 
in  his  work.  In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1835,  he  had  secured 
subscriptions  to  the  amount  of  about  twenty-one  thousand  dollars.* 
Although  this  was  only  a  little  more  than  one-half  the  amount  re- 
quired to  be  raised  by  the  plan,  yet  it  was  thought  best,  by  those 
most  interested,  to  call  a  meeting  of  the  Subscribers  at  this  time, 
in  order  to  organize  and  send  out  at  once  a  Committee  of  Explora- 
tion. That  meeting  was  held  on  the  sixth  day  of  May,  1835,  at 
Rome,  New  York.  The  minutes  of  that  meeting  and  of  all  sub- 
sequent meetings  of  the  Subscribers  to  Mr.  Gale's  plan,  are  entered 

*  In  addition  to  this  several  persons,  not  Subscribers,  agreed  to  loan  the  Association  a  few 
thousand  dollars  if  it  should  be  Deeded.  This  money  was  tu  be  paid  back,  with  interest,  as  soon  as 
possible.  The  money  was  never  required  by  the  Association.  In  a  statement  made  two  years  ago, 
by  parties  connected  with  the  College,  this  sum  waa  added  to  that  pledged  by  the  Subscribers,  and 
the  total  given  at  about  $'28,000,  without  indicating  that  a  )  art  was  pledged  by  persons  who  were 
not  Subscribers,  and  pledged  only  as  a  loan.  Ihe  whole  sum  pledged  by  Subscribers  was,  as  stated 
above,  only  about  $21,000. 


12  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

in  the  first  volume  of  the  College  Records,  and  are  all  recorded  as 
having  been  approved  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  after  the  College 
was  founded.  The  following  are  the  minutes  of  the 

FIRST  MEETING  OF  THE  SUBSCRIBERS. 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  Subscribers  to  the  Circular  of  G.  W.  Gale, 
proposing  to  establish  a  literary  institution  in  the  Valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  (see  plan  annexed  to  the  previous  page)  held  at  the 
session-room  of  the  1st  Presbyterian  Church,  in  Rome,  on  Wednes- 
day, May  6,  1835,  the  following  proceedings  were  had: 

After  spending  a  season  in  prayer,  the  meeting  was  called  to 
order  by  the  appointment  of  the  Rev.  John  Waters,  Chairman,  and 
T.  B.  Jervis,  Secretary. 

On  motion  of  Rev.  Mr.  Gale, 

JKesolved,  That  a  committee  be  chosen  to  nominate  a  Prudential 
Committee. 

Resolved,  That  the  Nominating  Committee  consist  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Kellogg,  Rev.  Mr.  Gale  and  Mr.  Holt. 

On  motion  of  Rev.  Mr.  Kellogg, 

Resolved,  That  Messrs.  Blodget,  T.  B.  Jervis  and  Stedman,  be 
appointed  a  committee  to  bring  before  the  meeting  in  the  afternoon 
such  topics  of  discussion  as,  in  their  opinion,  should  engage  the 
attention  of  the  meeting. 

Adjourned  to  2  o'clock  P.  M. 

At  2  o'clock  the  meeting  convened  according  to  adjournment 
The  Committee  of  Nomination  reported  that  they  recommend  that 
the  Prudential  Committee  should  not  exceed  eleven,  and  the  follow- 
ing persons  as  members,  with  power  to  fill  vacancies,  viz  :  Walter 
Webb,  Adams ;  Nehemiah  West,  Ira ;  Thomas  Gilbert,  Rome ; 
John  C.  Smith,  Utica;  G.  W.  Gale,  Whitesboro';  H.  H.  Kellogg, 
Clinton. 

The  report  was  accepted  and  adopted. 

Resolved,  That  the  Prudential  Committee  procure  the  exploration 
of  the  country  lying  in  the  States  of  Indiana  and  Illinois,  between 
the  40th  and  42nd  degrees  of  north  latitude,  with  reference  to 
selecting  the  best  location  in  the  district  for  the  projected  literary 
Institution. 

Resolved,  That  an  Exploring  Committee  of  three  be  appointed  by 
the  Prudential  Committee. 

Resolved,  That  the  Prudential  Committee  be  authorized  to  assume 
the  expense  that  has  been  incurred,  and  also  that  which  it  is  neces- 
sary to  incur  in  raising  the  fund  of  forty  thousand  dollars. 

Resolved,  That  the  Prudential  Committee  be  authorized  to  incur 
such  expense  as  may  be  necessary  to  accomplish  the  objects  of  their 
appointment. 

.Resolved,  That  the  Prudential  Committee  be  instructed  to  call  a 


FIRST   MEETING   OF   SUBSCRIBERS.  13 

meeting  of  the  Subscribers  to  the  fund,  as  soon  as  they  shall  be  able 
to  communicate  such  information  as  in  their  view  is  necessary  to 
enable  the  Subscribers  to  instruct  a  Purchasing  Committee. 

T.  B.  JERVIS,  Sejy" 

On  the  same  day  on  which  they  were  appointed,  the  Prudential 
Committee  met  and  organized,  and  then,  according  to  their  instruc- 
tions, appointed  an  Exploring  Committee,  consisting  of  Nehemiah 
West,  Thomas  Gilbert,  and  Timothy  B.  Jervis.  They  also  ap- 
pointed Rev.  G.  W.  Gale  a  general  agent  of  the  Association,  formed 
by  the  Subscribers. 

The  agent  and  all  the  members  of  both  the  above  committees 
were  Presbyterians. 

The  minutes  of  this  meeting  of  the  Prudential  Committee  are  on 
file  with  the  Secretary  of  the  College,  the  main  items  of  which  are 
as  follows: 

"May  6th,  1835.  The  Prudential  Committee  of  the  New  York 
Society,  for  Establishing  a  Settlement,  College,  &c.,  in  the  Valley 
of  the  Mississippi,  met  at  the  house  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Sedgwick,  at 
Rome,  according  to  appointment.  Nehemiah  West  and  Thomas 
Gilbert  were  appointed  an  Exploring  Committee  to  examine  all  the 
important  points  for  effecting  the  objects  of  t  the  Society  in  the  North 
of  the  States  of  Indiana  and  Illinois,  according  to  the  instructions 
suggested  by  the  Society  at  their  meeting  this  day.  Rev.  Geo.  W. 
Gale  was  appointed  a  general  agent  to  procure  families  and  funds, 
with  a  salary  of  $700  a  year,  and  his  necessary  expenses,  to  be 
borne  by  the  Society.  There  being  no  other  individual  present  or 
known  to  the  Committee,  (as  the  third  member  of  the  Exploring 
Committee,)  the  Secretary  was  instructed  to  correspond  with  gen- 
tlemen and  report  at  the  next  meeting.  Timothy  B.  Jervis  was 
chosen  a  member  of  the  Prudential  Committee.  Adjourned  to 
meet  in  Whitesboro',  May  the  12th,  1835,  at  the  house  of  the  Rev. 
G.  W.  Gale." 

"  Whitesboro',  May  12,  1835.  Prudential  Committee  met  accord- 
ing to  adjournment.  Mr.  Gale  reported  that  he  had  made  inquiries 
by  letter  and  otherwise,  but  had  not  been  able  to  ascertain  definitely 
whether  any  of  the  gentlemen'  he  had  in  view  would  accept  an  ap- 
pointment as  one  of  the  Exploring  Committee.  After  some  delibera- 
tion and  consultation  with  Mr.  Jervis,  a  member  of  the  Prudential 
Committee,  it  was  resolved  unanimously  to  appoint  him." 

The  three  gentlemen  above  named  accepted  their  appointment  as 
an  Exploring  Committee,  and  immediately  proceeded  west  in  dis- 
charge of  the  duties  assigned  them.  Nearly  three  mouths  were 
spent  by  them  in  exploring  portions  of  Indiana  and  Illinois.  They 
early  experienced  a  difficulty  growing  out  of  that  part  of  the  plan  of 


14  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

the  Association  which  required  the  purchase  of  a  whole  township  of 
government  land.  It  was  not  easy  at  that  time  to  find  thirty-six 
square  miles  of  land,  all  subject  to  entry  at  government  price,  which 
would  combine  fertility,  and  healthfulness,  and  desirableness  of  loca- 
tion, such  as  would  render  it  a  proper  site  for  a  colony  and  a  College. 
This  committee,  in  their  correspondence  with  the  Prudential  Com- 
mittee, which  is  on  file  with  the  Secretary  of  the  College,  clearly 
stated  the  difficulty,  and  also  urgently  pressed  the  importance  of  se- 
curing a  modification  of  the  original  plan,  so  far  as  to  allow  the  pur- 
chase of  a  less  amount  of  land  than  was  at  first  proposed.  If  the 
Association  would  consent  to  such  a  change  of  their  plan,  the  com- 
mittee were  prepared,  from  the  survey  they  had  made,  to  recom- 
mend "  the  Military  Tract,"  in  Illinois,  as  the  region  which  would 
"afford  altogether  the  best  opportunity  for"  accomplishing  the  pur- 
poses of  their  appointment.  At  a  later  date  the  Prudential  Commit- 
tee were  informed  that  "Mr.  Gilbert  had  found  a  township  on  the 
Military  Tract  which  he  thought  would  answer  "  as  a  site  for  the 
College.  This  township  was  the  one  adjoining  the  south-east  corner 
of  that  within  which  the  Association  afterward  planted  their  Col- 
lege. Mr.  Jervis  recommended,  in  addition  to  the  proposed  change 
in  the  plan,  that  a  Purchasing  Committee  should  be  appointed  at 
once.  In  his  letter  he  thus  writes  :  "I  can  give  you  no  idea  of  the 
flood  of  immigration  that  is  pouring  into  this  region  of  the  West 
his  season,  and  I  would  earnestly  press  the  importance  of  the  Pur- 
chasing Committee  leaving  you  by  the  middle  of  August,  and  of  the 
funds  necessary  to  purchase  the  land  being  placed  to  their  credit  as 
early  as  September.  Now  is  most  emphatically  the  time  for  the 
friends  of  Zion  to  come  up  to  the  work  of  giving  the  means  of  intel- 
lectual and  moral  instruction  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  great  valley." 
The  Prudential  Committee,  having  become  well  satisfied,  from  the 
letters  of  the  Exploring  Committee,  that  a  whole  township  of  govern- 
ment land  could  not  be  found  in  such  a  region  as  they  desired,  but 
that  enough  to  accomplish  all  the  objects  of  the  Association  could 
be  secured  upon  the  "  Military  Tract,"  in  Illinois,  called  the  Sub- 
scribers together  in  a  second  meeting,  which  was  held  on  the  1 9th 
day  of  August,  1835,  at  Whitesboro',  New  York.  At  this  meeting 
the  original  plan  was  modified  so  far  as  to  authorize  the  purchase  of 
twenty  instead  of  thirty-six  sections  of  land.  A  Purchasing  Com- 
mittee was  also  appointed,  consisting  of  Rev.  G.  W.  Gale,  Silvanus 


SECOND   MEETING   OF  "SUBSCKIBEES.  15 

Ferris  and  Nehemiah  West.     These  gentlemen  were  all  Presby- 
terians.    The  following  are  the  minutes  of  that 

SECOND  MEETING  OF  SUBSCRIBERS. 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  Subscribers  to  Rev.  G.  W.  Gale's  Circular, 
proposing  the  erection  of  a  College  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi, 
held  at  Whitesboro',  August  19,  1835,  Mr.  S.  Bond,  of  Adams,  was 
chosen  Chairman,  and  I.  Holt,  of  Watertown,  Secretary. 

The  forenoon  was  spent  in  prayer  and  other  religious  exercises, 
and  in  the  afternoon  the  following  resolutions  were  adopted : 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  persons  be  appointed  to 
make  a  purchase  and  appraisal  of  lands  in  Illinois  or  Indiana,  for 
the  objects  specified  in  the  circular,  and  that  G.  W.  Gale,  H.  H. 
Kellogg  and  Silvanus  Ferris  be  that  committee ;  also,  that  Nehe- 
miah West  be  a  substitute  for  Mr.  Kellogg. 

Resolved,  That  those  who  visit  the  land  this  coming  fall,  with  a 
view  to  remove  their  families  at  furthest  in  the  spring,  have  their 
choice  of  lots,  at  the  appraisal  of  the  Purchasing  Committee. 

Resolved,  That  the  distribution  of  lots  to  Subscribers  who  do  not 
go  on  this  fall  and  make  choice  under  the  preceding  resolution,  shall 
be  deferred  until  a  meeting  of  the  Subscribers  the  coming  winter. 

Resolved,  That  the  Purchasing  Committee  give  such  security  for 
monies  received  of  the  Subscribers,  as  the  Prudential  Committee 
deem  safe. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  inexpedient  to  purchase  less  than  twenty  sec- 
tions, and  as  much  more  as  the  committee  have  funds  to  appropriate. 

Resolved,  That  if  necessary,  the  location  of  timber-land  separate 
from  prairie,  in  the  purchase,  shall  not  constitute  an  obstacle  to  the 
prosecution  of  our  plan. 

Resolved,  That  timber-land  be  put  at  the  average  price  of  prairie, 
and  that  one-tenth  of  the  purchase  be  timber,  and  Subscribers,  if 
they  require  it,  be  furnished  with  timber  in  that  proportion. 

Adjourned/' 

The  reader  will  take  notice  that  by  their  action  in  this  second 
meeting,  the  Subscribers  bound  themselves  to  meet  all  the  cost  of 
the  twenty  sections  of  land  when  purchased:  The  Purchasing 
Committee  were  acting  under  their  instructions  and  as  their  agents 
merely.  In  order  to  purchase  the  amount  of  land  required,  and  to 
meet  other  expenses,  the  committee  would  need  somewhat  more 
than  sixteen  thousand  dollars.  By  the  terms  of  the  original  sub- 
scription, the  money  subscribed  was  not  yet  due,  and  although  a 
Purchasing  Committee  had  now  been  appointed,  yet  the  Subscribers 
were  not  all  able  to  advance  at  once  the  amount  to  be  paid  by  them. 
A  few  of  them,  however,  paid  their  subscription  at  that  time, 


16  KKOX    COLLEGE. 

amounting  in  all  to  somewhat  less  than  five  thousand  dollars.  To 
this  was  added  the  proceeds  of  a  note  of  eight  hundred  dollars 
given  by  Mr.  R.  N.  Randall,  )>f  Whitesboro',  a  Presbyterian,  who 
was  not  a  Subscriber,  but  who  liad  pledged  what  aid  he  could  give 
to  the  enterprise.  The  Treasury  Books  of  Knox  College  contain 
the  names  of  the  persons  who  paid  this  money,  and  the  amount 
paid  by  each  one,  in  the  following  entry : 

Purchasing  Committee,  Dr.,  to  Trustees  of  Knox  College,  for 
money  received,  Oct.  1,  1835, 

Of  R.  K  Randall $   781  75 

"   G.  W.  Gale 1,194  11 

"   H.  H.  Kellogg 1,000  00 

"    Gurdon  Grant 400  00 

"   John  Waters 1,000  00 

"    S.  Ferris 400  00 

"   T.  Simmons , 300  00 

"   J.  Frost. .  200  00 


Total . .' $5,275  86 

In  addition  to  this  amount,  other  Subscribers  agreed  to  advance 
the  sum  of  nearly  two  thousand  dollars,  which,  however,  was  not 
received  by  the  committee  in  time  for  their  use,  as  appears  from  the 
agent's  report,  which  will  be  given  in  its  proper  place. 

An  additional  sum  of  ten  thousand  dollars  Was  advanced  as  a 
loan  by  Messrs.  Gale  and  Ferris,  two  members  of  the  Purchasing 
Committee.  This  money  they  obtained  on  their  joint  note,  made 
payable  at  the  Bank  of  Utica  in  four  months  from  date.  By  an 
arrangement  with  the  bank  the  money  on  this  note  was  drawn 
from  the  Bank  of  Michigan,  at  Detroit.  The  Purchasing  Committee 
were  thus  provided  with  money,  which,  after  deducting  exchange 
and  discount,  amounted  to  fifteen  thousand  and  ninety-four  dollars 
and  eighty-four  cents.  As  the  duties  of  this  committee  were  im- 
portant and  arduous,  they  desired,  before  they  left  for  the  West,  an 
increase  of  their  number.  After  some  inquiry,  it  was  ascertained 
that  Mr.  Thomas  Simmons,  one  of  the  Subscribers,  would  be  willing 
to  accompany  them,  and  accordingly  he  was  appointed  one  of  the 
Purchasing  Committee.  He  received  his  appointment  from  the 
Prudential  Committee.  Mr.  Simmons  was  a  Congregation alist,  and 
was  the  only  one,  among  the  thirty-four  Subscribers,  by  whom 
Knox  College  was  founded,  who  belonged  to  that  denomination. 
The  amount  of  his  subscription  was  eignt  hundred  dollars,  of  which 
only  three  hundred  were  now  advanced  by  him  toward  purchasing 
the  land ;  the  remainder  was  paid  at  a  later  date. 


KNOX   COLLEGE.  17 

Messrs.  Gale,  Ferris  and  West  left  in  company  for  the  "  Military 
Tract,"  in  Illinois,  on  the  16th  day  of  September,  1835,  At  Detroit 
they  were  joined  by  Mr.  Simmons.  Here  they  drew  from  the  Bank 
of  Michigan  the  money  on  the  note  of  ten  thousand  dollars,  given 
by  Mr.  Gale  and  Mr.  Ferris.  Mr.  Gale  had  been  taken  seriously  ill 
before  reaching  Detroit,  and  was  unable  to  proceed  further.  The 
other  members  of  the  committee  left  that  city  on  the  29th  of  Sep- 
tember, intending  to  proceed  to  Knoxville,  in  Knox  county,  Illinois, 
where  they  had  been  directed  by  the  previous  Exploring  Committee: 
On  their  way  they  spent  two  days  at  Ottawa,  and  while  there  were 
joined  by  Mr.  Samuel  Tompkins,  a  neighbor  of  Mr.  Simmons.  The 
two  had  travelled  in  company  from  their  home,  in  Hamilton,  New 
York,  to  Detroit,  where  they  had  separated.  Mr.  Tompkins  was  an 
humble  mechanic,  a  shoemaker,  of  such  limited  means  that  he  had 
travelled  principally  on  foot  from  Detroit  to  Ottawa,  looking  for  a 
new  home  for  himself  in  the  great  West.  At  this  point  he  was  en- 
gaged by  the  committee  to  go  on  to  Knoxville,  and  there  assist  them 
in  surveying  the  land  which  they  were  about  to  purchase.  The 
compensation  to  be  allowed  him  was  his  travelling  expenses,  and  no 
more,  from  Ottawa  to  Knoxville,  and  thence  to  his  home  in  New 
York.  The  committee,  having  secured  his  services,  then  left  him 
to  follow  them,  as  he  did,  on  foot.  He  afterward  rendered  them 
faithful  service  in  carrying  the  chain  for  the  surveyors.  His  only 
connection  with  the  committee  was  that  of  a  hired  assistant.  These 
facts  respecting  him  are  stated  upon  the  authority  of  Mr.  S.  Ferris, 
the  principal  member  of  the  committee,  and  his  son,  Mr.  S.  Wes- 
ton  Ferris,  who  accompanied  them  through  their  whole  journey. 
Mr.  Tompkins  was  a  Congregationalist.  He  was  never  a  Subscriber 
to  the  Plan  of  founding  Knox  College,  and  until  after  the  College 
was  founded,  had  never  had  any  connection  with  the  enterprise,  ex- 
cept that  of  having  been  employed  by  the  Purchasing  Committee  to 
carry  the  chain  for  their  surveyors.  Among  all  the  records,  and  re- 
ports and  documents  of  various  kinds  relating  to  the  founding  of  the 
College,  his  name  never  appears  except  in  the  bill  of  expenses  of  the 
Purchasing  Committee,  who  report  him  as  having  received  $52.75. 

In  the  report  of  the  Purchasing  Committee,  a  portion  of  which 
will  soon  be  given,  this  language  occurs  in  narrating  the  action  of 
the  committee  in  purchasing  the  lands  in  Knox  county :  "  On  the 
30th  of  October  two  of  your  committee  left  the  tract  and  returned 
to  Quincy,  to  complete  their  entry,  and  the  other  returned  directly 
2 


18  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

home."  The  two  who  went  to  Quincy  were  Messrs.  Ferris  and 
"West — the  "other"  was  Mr.  Simmons.  This  shows  that  the  com- 
mittee did  not  regard  Mr.  Tompkins,  who  was  then  with  them,  as 
one  of  their  number.  Yet  in  the  face  of  these  facts,  so  anxious  has 
Mr.  Blanchard,  the  Ex-President  of  the  College,  been  to  establish  the 
"  rights  of  Congregationalists  "  to  its  control,  that  from  want  of 
any  better  foundation,  he  has  on  several  different  occasions  publicly 
advanced  Mr.  Tompkins  as  the  principal  actor  in  purchasing  the  lands 
and  as  the  main  founder  of  the  College.  His  argument  has  always 
rested  upon  the  fact  that  Mr.  Tompkins  was  with  the  Purchasing  Com- 
mittee when  they  bought  the  lands  for  the  Association  ;  but  he  ap- 
pears never  to  have  known,  or  if  he  did  know  he  never  saw  fit  to  tell  the 
public  what  the  true  relations  were  between  Mr.  Tompkins  and  that 
committee.  Mr.  Tompkins,  who  now  lives  in  Galesburg,  must  have 
been  immeasurably  surprised  to  learn,  through  Mr.  Blanchard,  how 
much  the  world  owes  to  him  as  the  chief  founder  of  Knox  College. 

The  committee  left  Ottawa  on  the  12th  of  October,  and  proceeded 
to  Knox  county,  upon  the  "  Military  Tract."  Here  they  soon  found, 
as  they  had  been  led  to  expect,  from  the  correspondence  of  the  Ex- 
ploring Committee,  a  site  in  every  respect  suited  to  their  purposes. 

They  immediately  expended  their  funds  in  purchasing  10,746  y^ 
acres,  or  about  seventeen  sections  of  land.  In  this  amount  were  in- 
cluded two  improved  farms  of  250  acres,  and  160  acres  of  timber 
land,  all  of  which  cost  $1,900.  The  remaining  10,336  y8^  acres  con- 
sisted of  most  beautiful  and  fertile  prairie  land,  not  dotted  by  any  hu- 
man habitation,  and  which  cost,  at  government  price,  $12,921.01. 
The  total  cost  of  all  the  land  was  ($14,821.01)  fourteen  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  twenty-one  dollars  and  one  cent.  The  two  im- 
proved farms  and  the  quarter- section  of  timber  land  were  purchased 
in  the  name  of  the  whole  Committee,  Messrs.  Ferris,  West,  Gale 
and  Simmons  ;  but  the  remainder  was  all  purchased  in  the  name  of 
Mr.  Ferris  and  of  Mr.  West.  If  Mr.  Tompkins  had  been  a  member 
of  the  committee,  his  name  would  have  been  inserted  in  those  first 
deeds.  The  committee  surveyed  the  land,  selected  a  site  for  the 
village,  and  also  for  the  College,  and  agreed  to  call  the  town  Gales- 
burg,  after  the  author  of  the  whole  enterprise.  They  then,  in  the 
early  part  of  November,  1835,  left  for  their  homes  in  New  York. 
A  meeting  of  the  Subscribers  was  called  to  receive  their  report,  to 
take  possession  of  the  land,  and  to  found  the  College.  That  meet- 
ing was  held  on  the  7th  day  of  January,  1836,  at  Whitesboro', 


KNOX   COLLEGE.  19 

New  York.  At  that  meeting  the  Subscribers  assumed  the  entire 
ownership  of  the  land;  they  founded  the  College,  calling  it  "Prairie 
College ;"  they  determined  the  number  that  should  constitute  the 
Board;  they  elected  ten  Trustees  to  act  as  a  quasi  corporation 
until  a  charter  could  be  obtained  ;  they  required  the  Purchasing 
Committee  to  give  bonds  for  the  proper  conveyance  of  the  land  to 
the  Trustees  of  the  College  for  its  benefit ;  they  gave  the  name  of 
Galesburg  to  their  prospective  town  ;  and  they  then,  according  to 
the  plan  to  which  they  had  subscribed,  took  farm  lands  of  the  As- 
sociation at  an  average  price  four  times  greater  than  that  at  which 
they  had  just  been  bought  of  the  government.  This  they  did  in 
order  to  insure  the  immediate  success  of  their  plan.  The  College 
was  founded  at  this  meeting.  These  Subscribers,  and  they  only, 
were  its  founders.  They  had  originated  a  plan  for  founding  the 
College  ;  they  had  purchased  thousands  of  acres  of  land  in  order  to 
endow  it ;  they  then  organized  it  by  name  ;  they  appointed  its  Board 
of  Trustees ;  they  vested  the  title  to  the  land  in  its  Board ;  and, 
finally,  many  of  them  gave  themselves  as  colonists,  forsaking  pleas- 
ant homes  in  the  East  and  consenting  to  endure  the  privations  of 
western  pioneer  life,  in  order  to  insure  the  most  perfect  success  to 
their  undertaking.  The  land  which  they  then  gave  as  an  endow- 
ment to  their  College  has,  in  the  few  years  since  that  time,  been 
worth  to  it  more  than  HALF  A  MILLION  or  DOLLARS. 

The  reader  is  asked  to  compare  the  acts  of  these  Subscribers  in 
founding  Knox  College,  with  the  acts  'of  the  ten  ministers  who 
founded  Yale  College,  and  whose  claim  as  founders  was  maintained 
and  established  by  President  Clapp,  when  disputed  in  1763,  before 
the  Governor  and  Council  of  the  Colony  of  Connecticut.  President 
Woolsey,  in  a  "Historical  Discourse,"  delivered  in  1850,  thus 
speaks  of  the  manner  of  founding  Yale  College  :  "  Some  time  in 
the  year  1700,  ten  ministers,  acting  by  general  consent  for  the  min- 
istry and  the  churches  of  the  colony  of  Connecticut,  held  a  meeting 
at  New  Haven,  for  the  purpose  of  founding  a  Collegiate  School ; 
and  this  pui-pose  they  carried  into  effect  at  a  subsequent  meeting  at 
Branford,  in  the  same  year,  when  each  person  presented  a  number 
of  books  to  the  body,  using  words  to  this  effect  as  he  laid  the  books 
on  the  table :  '  I  give  these  books  for  the  founding  of  a  College  in 
this  colony.'"  "The  act  of  founding  consisted  in  their  giving  forty 
folios  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  College  in  the  colony." 
"The  ten  ministers  who  met  at  Branford  in  1700,  being  a  society, 


20  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

i 

and  a  quasi-corporation  by  nomination  and  consent  of  a  body  of 
ministers  and  people,  and  having  made  a  donation  to  the  College, 
as  well  as  received  property  in  trust  for  it  before  the  charter,  were 
in  reality  its  founders  by  the  common  law,  and  thus  had  the  right 
of  visitation  which  they  transmitted  to  their  legal  successors."  If 
these  ten  ministers,  who  donated  forty  folios,  were  thus  the  founders 
of  Yale  College,  then,  beyond  all  question,  the  thirty-four  Sub- 
scribers, who,  in  addition  to  all  their  other  acts  to  the  same  eifect, 
donated  thousands  of  acres  of  land  to  establish  and  endow  Knox 
College,  were  its  founders.  The  following  are  the  minutes  of  the 
meeting  of  the  Subscribers  when  the  College  was  founded  : 

THIRD  MEETING  OF  SUBSCRIBERS. 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  Subscribers  to  the  Circular  of  the  Rev.  G.  W. 
Gale,  for  the  purchase  of  lands  on  which  to  locate  a  College,  etc.,  in 
the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  held  at  Whitesboro',  on  the  7th  Janu- 
ary, 1836,  John  Waters  was  elected  Chairman,  and  N.  H.  Losey 
Secretary.  The  session  was  opened  with  prayer  by  Rev.  Ira  Petti- 
bone.  Minutes  of  last  meeting  were  read.  Report  of  the  agent, 
G.  W.  Gale,  was  accepted." 

As  the  several  reports  presented  at  this  meeting,  are  long  and 
would  occupy  too  much  space  in  this  pamphlet,  if  published  entire, 
it  is  necessary  to  present  only  such  portions  of  them  as  relate  di- 
rectly to  the  facts  already  stated.  These  reports  are  valuable  docu- 
ments, in  which  may  be  found  almost  the  entire  history  of  the 
founding  of  the  College.  The  following  statements  are  taken  from 
the  above  mentioned  Agent's  Report : 

"It  will  be  recollected  by  those  who  attended  our  meeting  to  ap- 
point a  Purchasing  Committee,  that  Mr.  Silvanus  Ferris,  Rev. 
H.  H.  Kellogg,  and  myself,  were  appointed  for  that  purpose,  with 
instructions  to  collect  funds  and  purchase,  if  possible,  twenty  sec- 
tions of  land.  It  being  doubtful  whether  Mr.  Kellogg  would  be 
able  to  go,  at  his  suggestion  Mr.  West,  who  had  been  out  as  one  of 
the  Exploring  Committee,  was  appointed  in  his  stead.  The  Pru- 
dential Committee,  feeling  that  it  was  very  important  to  have  a  full 
committee,  and  some  of  the  committee  feeling  that  the  duties  would 
be  arduous  as  well  as  highly  responsible,  thought  best  to  appoint 
Mr.  T.  Simmons,  of  Hamilton,  in  addition.  There  was  one  place  on 
the  Military  Tract,  in  Knox  county,  which  Mr.  Gilbert  had  seen, 
and  in  wrhich  he  had  purchased,  which  be  thought  would  do,  and 
which  was  nearly  all  Congress  land.  A  consultation  was  held  by 
the  committee  and  some  friends,  as  to  what  was  expedient  to  be 


THIRD   MEETING    OF    SUBSCRIBERS.  21 

done.  A  few  advanced  what  funds  they  could.  We  raised  between 
5,000  and  6,000  dollars,  and  made  arrangements  for  more,  but  in  some 
of  it  we  were  disappointed,  and  some  that  was  sent  on  did  not  reach 
the  committee  in  time.  The  committee  also  resolved  to  effect  a  loan 
through  the  Bank,  if  possible,  which  they  did  on  their  own  respon- 
sibility, of  $10,000.  This  they  supposed  would  enable  them  nearly 
or  quite  to  meet  the  wishes  and  instructions  of  the  Subscribers  in 
the  amount  of  land  to  be  purchased,  which  it  did  nearly,  and  would 
have  done  quite,  but  for  the  disappointment  just  mentioned.  Mr. 
Simmons  arrived  soon  after  the  rest  of  the  committee  did,  at  Detroit. 
I  would  add  that  our  list  of  Subscribers  amounts  to  forty-six. 
There  were  a  few  who  subscribed,  but  who,  discouraged  about  our 
making  a  purchase,  have  settled  in  Michigan." 

"  Report  of  Prudential  Committee  was  read  by  its  chairman,  II.  H. 
Kellogg  and  accepted." 

(The  following  are  among  its  statements :) 

"  The  doings  of  this  committee  were  reported  to  this  body  at  their 
last  meeting.  They  then  stated  that  an  Exploring  Committee  had 
been  sent  out,  one  of  wrhom,  as  wras  expected,  had  returned  and 
was  then  present.  Mr.  Gilbert  had  found  a  township  on  the  Military 
Tract  which  he  thought  would  answer,  and  after  deliberation,  it  was 
thought  best  to  get  what  money  could  be  obtained,  and  to  send  out 
the  Committee.  This  was  done  as  reported  by  the  agent.  The 
amount  of  money  expended  in  land  and  the  expense  attending  the 
purchase,  will  be  reported  by  the  Purchasing  Committee.  The 
committee  would  now  recommend  that  the  lots  should  be  distributed 
in  the  way  the  Subscribers  may  think  best,  and  that  trustees  be 
chosen  to  make  conveyance  of  property  to  Subscribers,  after  re- 
ceiving it  from  the  committee,  and  to  take  charge  of  all  the  business 
relating  to  the  College,  and  other  literary  institutions.  The  busi- 
ness for  which  the  Prudential  Committee  were  appointed  having 
been  accomplished,  they  now  tender  their  resignation." 

"  Report  of  the  Purchasing  Committee  was  read  by  Mr.  West,  and 
accepted."  [This  report  is  very  long,  but  only  the  following  facts  of  all 
which  it  contains  need  be  now  published  :]  "  On  examining  the  tract 
in  Illinois,  they  (the  committee)  found  that  it  combined  more  desi- 
rable objects  than  they  had  heretofore  expected  to  find.  They  found 
it  delightfully  situated  on  the  height  of  land,  and  nearly  central  be- 
tween the  two  rivers,  beautifully  watered  with  living  springs  and 
streams,  and  having  an  abundance  of  coal  and  building  stone,  and 
unquestionably  healthful.  Accordingly  they  decided  at  once  to 
plant  their  feet  there,  and  commenced  making  the  purchase.  In 
the  first  place  they  purchased  two  improved  farms,  the  one  contain- 
ing 150,  the  other  100  acres,  for  $1,500.  They  also  bought  one 
quarter-section  of  timber,  adjoining  the  first  purchase,  for  $2.50  per 
acre  ($400.)  They  then  left  immediately  for  Quincy,  a  distance  of 
one  hundred  miles,  where  the  land  office  is  kept,  to  make  entries 
of  what  prairie  land  was  needed.  The  whole  amount  of  funds 


22  KNOX    COLLEGE. 

belonging  to  the  company  invested  was  $15,094.84.  The  quan- 
tity of  land  purchased  is,  410  acres  of  resident  individuals,  and 
10,336  T80'0  acres  of  the  government,  making  the  whole  purchase 
amount  to  10,746  T8s\j  acres.  In  addition  to  the  above  purchase,  your 
committee  invested  private  funds  sufficient  to  secure  the  remainder 
of  the  township,  so  that  now  it  will  be  entirely  under  the  control  of 
the  colony,  a  circumstance  highly  favorable  to  our  mutual  improve- 
ment. Thus,  we  have  given  briefly  the  outlines  of  our  expedition 
and  success.  Should  the  blessing  of  Heaven  attend  our  labors,  and 
we  succeed  in  raising  up  a  seminary  of  learning  in  the  great  valley, 
and  thus  be  instrumental  in  sending  the  Bread  of  Life  to  those  that 
are  ready  to  perish,  multitudes  in  the  realms  of  glo'-y  may  yet  rise 
up  and  call  us  blessed.  Your  committee  would  recommend  that  this 
meeting  proceed  immediately  to  divide  the  land  among  the  Subscri- 
bers, agreeable  to  the  original  plan,  and  that  we  elect  nine  Trustees, 
who  shall  have  the  charge  of  all  the  property,  landed  or  otherwise, 
belonging  to  the  Institution,  and  who  shall,  as  soon  as  practicable, 
be  incorporated  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  by  the 
name  of  the  '  Trustees  of  Prairie  College,  111.' 

Monies  received  by  Purchasing  Committee $15,094  84 

Amount  of  purchase,  10,746  -fifa  acres $14,821  01 

Expenses  paid  by  Mr.  Ferris 636  20 

Exploring  Committee 517  41 

(Agent) 584  45 

$16,559  07 

The  plan  of  distributing  lots  to  Subscribers  was  referred  to  a  com- 
mittee of  three,  also  the  continuance  of  scholarships,  and  mode  of 
conveyance,  and  Messrs.  J.  C.  Smith,  Silvanus  Ferris,  and  Thomas 
Simmons,  were  appointed  that  committee. 

Resolved,  That  we  proceed  to  appoint  a  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES, 
agreeably  to  the  plan  to  which  we  subscribed,  and  that  the  number  of 
which  the  Board  shall  consist,  and  the  nomination  of  the  Board,  be 
referred  to  a  committee. 

Messrs.  Gale,  Kellogg  and  West  were  appointed  that  committee. 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  to  report  what 
is  to  be  done  for  the  improvement  of  the  public  lands,  a  name  for 
the  College  and  village,  and  what,  if  anything,  shall  be  done  to 
guard  the  morals  of  the  colony. 

Messrs.  Smith,  West  and  Tompkins  were  appointed  that  com- 
mittee. Adjourned  to  meet  again  at  2  o'clock  P.  M. 

2  o'clock  P.  M.  Met  according  to  adjournment.  The  Committee 
of  nomination,  etc.,  made  the  following  Report:  That  the  Board 
consist  of  twenty-five,  when  full ;  that  it  is  now  inexpedient  to  fill 
it ;  and  nominate  as  trustees  the  following  persons :  John  Waters, 
Silvanus  Ferris,  H.  H.  Kellogg,  Thos.  Simmons,  Samuel  Bond, 
John  C.  Smith  and  Walter  Webb.  The  report  was  accepted  and 
adopted. 


THIRD    MEETING   OF   SUBSCRIBERS.  23 

Mr.  Bond  requested  that  his  name  be  stricken  out,  which  was 
granted,  and  G.  W.  Gale  and  Nehemiah  "West  were  nominated  and 
appointed. 

Isaac  Mills  and  Samuel  Tompkins  were  also  appointed. 

The  committee  to  whom  the  plan  of  distributing,  etc.,  was  re- 
ferred, reported,  That  lots  as  appraised,  be  received  on  subscrip- 
tion— choice  or  preference  be  decided  by  bid — bids  for  general 
fund — 80  acres,  at  any  price,  entitled  to  scholarships — and  that  to 
future  purchasers,  until  scholarships  amount  to  eighty  if  taken  in 
sixty  days,  lots  shall  be  entitled  to  scholarships,  and  in  other  cases, 
at  the  discretion  of  the  trustees — that  the  Purchasing  Committee 
be  requested  to  hold  the  duplicates,  and  give  bonds  for  the  due  con- 
veyance, so  soon  as  circumstances  will  admit,  agreeably  to  the 
original  plan,  to  the  trustees,  and  in  the  mean  time,  certificates  or 
deeds  to  purchasers,  when  directed  by  the  trustees.  The  report 
was  accepted  and  adopted. 

.Resolved,  That  if  any  one  becomes  dissatisfied  with  his  choice  of  a 
lot,  and  wishes  to  exchange  with  the  trustees,  for  lots  in  their  posses- 
sion, designed  for  settlers,  he  may  have  the  privilege  at  the  appraisal. 

JResolved,  That  the  agent  be  directed  to  designate  individuals  to 
select  lots  for  absent  subscribers  who  have  requested  it. 

JResolved,  That  we  proceed  to  the  distribution  of  lots.  See  me- 
morandum of  sales  file  No.  4,  also  treasurer's  books. 

The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  plan  of  improving  public 
lands,  etc.,  reported, 

That  the  village  be  immediately  laid  out  under  the  direction  of 
the  trustees,  appraised  and  thrown  into  market : 

That  lots  for  an  academy  or  preparatory  school,  ladies  seminary, 
meeting  house  and  common  school,  and  for  other  benevolent  objects, 
as  the  trustees  may  deem  expedient,  be  reserved  from  the  village  tract: 

That  arrangements  be  made  by  the  trustees,  for  cultivating  and 
fencing  the  College  land  the  present  year  ;  also  for  procuring  ma- 
terial for  a  College  edifice,  so  that  it  be  commenced  as  early  as  the 
spring  of  1837  : 

That  provision  be  made  for  the  erection  of  a  steam  saw-mill, 
either  from  the  public  fund  or  private  enterprise,  giving  preference 
to  the  latter : 

That  the  College  be  named  Prairie  College,  and  the  village 
Galesburg : 

That  a  house  be  built  at  the  earliest  practicable  period,  by  the 
trustees,  for  boarding  and  entertainment : 

That  the  trustees  furnish  wood  land  for  each  purchaser  who  re- 
quires it,  equal  to  one-tenth  of  their  purchase ;  which  report  was 
accepted  and  adopted. 

In  the  course  of  the  meeting,  Mr.  Losey  resigned  the  office  of 
Secretary,  and  J.  C.  Smith  was  appointed  in  his  room. 

Jsro.  C.  SMITH,  Sec*y* 
The  foregoing  records  were  approved  by  the  board. 

J.  C.  SMITH,  Sec'y" 


24:  KNOX    COLLEGE. 

The  reader  has  not  failed  to  notice  from  the  foregoing  minutes, 
that  the  persons  who  held  the  several  meetings  recorded,  invariably 
style  themselves  "  the  Subscribers  to  the  Circular  of  Rev.  G.  "W. 
Gale  for  founding  literary  institutions  " — that  in  the  reports  of  the 
several  committees  similar  language  is  used  in  designating  those  by 
whom  they  were  appointed — that  the  Prudential  Committee,  which 
was  appointed  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Subscribers,  presented  a 
report  at  the  second,  and  again  at  the  third  meeting,  and  at  the 
last  meeting  tendered  their  resignation — that  the  agent  also,  who 
was  appointed  at  the  first  meeting,  reported  at  the  last — that  all  the 
transactions,  from  the  first  to  the  last  meeting,  were  an  uninterrupted 
series,  ending  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  original  plan — and 
that  from  first  to  last  the  "  Subscribers,"  and  they  only,  were  the 
responsible  parties  engaged  in  the  work,  and  by  whom  the  College 
was  founded. 

Those  readers  who  live  in  Galesburg  and  vicinity,  and  who  heard 
Ex-President  Blanchard,  when  he  introduced  himself  upon  the  plat- 
form after  the  inaugural  address  of  his  successor,  a  year  and  a  half 
ago,  and  in  a  harangue  an  hour  long,  assailed  that  address  and  the 
College  Board,  will  compare  the  above  facts,  which  are  found  upon 
the  very  first  pages  of  the  College  records,  with  the  statements  he 
then  made,  and  which  he  has  since  repeated,  concerning  the  total 
failure  of  Mr.  Gale's  Plan,  arid  the  abandonment  of  the  whole  en- 
terprise by  the  Subscribers  after  their  first  meeting. 

The  BOND,  required  by  the  Subscribers  to  be  given  by  the 
Purchasing  Committee  for  the  conveyance  of  the  land  held  by 
them  to  the  Trustees  of  the  College,  is  on  file  and  is  as  follows  : 

"  Whereas  a  purchase  has  been  made  in  Township  Eleven  north, 
one  East  of  fourth  principal  meridian,  in  Knox  county,  Illinois,  of 
certain  lands  as  hereinafter  described,  by  Silvanus  Ferris  of  Herki- 
mer  county,  and  Nehemia  West  of  Cayuga  county,  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  in  behalf  of  certain  persons,  Subscribers  to  a  fund  for 
a  Western  Colony  and  institutions,  on  a  plan  proposed  by  Rev.  G. 
W.  Gale,  the  title  of  which  is  now  vested  in  us,  and  by  the  said 
Subscribers  we  are  instructed  to  vest  this  title  in  their  Board  of 
Trust — now  therefore  we  bind  ourselves,  our  heirs  and  assigns 
to  convey  our  respective  and.  conjoined  interests  and  titles  to  the 
following  persons,  viz  :  [Here  follow  the  names  of  the  ten  Trustees 
of  the  College,]  and  their  associates  or  successors  in  office,  Trustees 
of  the  said  Institution,  now  named  Prairie  College,  in  the  following 
property  or  sections  of  land,  being  a  part  of  the  above  named  town- 
ship 1 1  north,  1  east  of  4th  principal  meridian,  viz  :  [Description  of 


KNOX   COLLEGE.  25 

the  land  by  sections,  etc.]  so  soon  as  circumstances  will  admit,  and 
in  the  mean  time  convey  to  individual  purchasers,  by  direction  of 
said  Trustees ;  which  conveyance  shall  supersede  the  conveyance 
to  the  said  Trust  of  such  portions  as  have  been  conveyed  to 
individuals. 

In  witness  whereof  we  have  hereunto  set  our  hands  and  seals 
this  8th  day  of  January,  1836.  SILYANUS  FERRIS,  [L.  s.] 

NEHEMIAH  WEST,  [L.  s.]" 

From  the  College  records,  as  will  soon  be  shown,  it  appears  that 
the  title  to  all  the  land  continued  to  be  held  by  the  Purchasing  Com- 
mittee until  after  a  charter  had  been  obtained,  in  1837  ;  and  that 
then  they  conveyed  the  whole  to  the  corporate  Board ;  and  that  all 
persons  who  in  the  mean  time  had  purchased  any  of  the  land,  in- 
cluding Subscribers  as  well  as  others,  received  their  deeds  from  the 
College. 

The  note  of  $10,000,  given  by  Messrs.  Gale  and  Ferris,  became 
due  on  the  last  of  January,  1836,  and  was  then  taken  up.  Of  the 
money  which  paid  it,  $5,300  came  from  Subscribers;  the  balance, 
$4,700  was  obtained  from  the  Bank  of  Ontario,  at  Utica,  on  another 
joint  note  of  Messrs.  Gale  and  Ferris,  payable  in  ninety  days. 
When  this  note  became  due,  it  was  paid  in  part  by  money  received 
as  before,  from  Subscribers,  and  in  part  by  a  new  note  for  $3,139.78, 
drawn  by  the  same  parties,  payable  in  four  months.  This  note  was 
due  on  the  first  day  of  September,  1836,  at  which  time  enough 
money  had  been  received  from  the  Subscribers  to  pay  the  largest 
part  of  it.  The  balance,  amounting  to  $1,200,  was  put  into  a  new 
note,  payable  in  four  months.  This  last  note,  after  two  partial  pay- 
ments, and  two  renewals  for  the  balance,  was  entirely  paid  in  March, 
1837,  by  Mr.  Ferris,  with  his  own  money.  These  facts  are  set  forth 
in  the  books  of  the  Treasurer  of  the  College,  and  in  a  letter  written 
by  Mr.  Ferris  a  few  days  after  the  last  payment  had  been  made. 

It  is  no  more  than  simple  justice  at  this  point  to  remark  that 
all  the  records  and  facts  relating  to  the  founding  of  the  Col- 
lege show  that  while  great  credit  is  due  to  all  the  Subscribers 
for  what  was  accomplished,  yet  much  the  largest  share  of  this  credit 
is  due  to  Mr.  Gale  and  Mr.  Silvanus  Ferris.  Without  their  efforts 
Knox  College  would,  doubtless,  never  have  been  founded.  Mr.  Gale 
originated  the  plan,  secured  the  Subscribers,  and  risked  all  that  he  pos- 
sessed in  order  to  insure  success.  Mr.  Ferris  was  a  wealthy  farmer, 
and  it  was  his  responsible  name,  joined  with  Mr.  Gale's,  which  se- 


26  KNOX    COLLEGE. 

cured  the  largest  part  of  the  money  required  to  purchase  the  lands 
for  the  College.  It  was  his  credit,  also,  that  continued  that  loan 
until  those  of  the  Subscribers  who  had  not  yet  paid  their  subscrip- 
tion, could  do  so  without  inconvenience  to  themselves.  After  all 
this,  he  then  abandoned  a  pleasant  home  in  central  New  York,  where 
he  had  gathered  around  him  everything  that  seems  desirable  in  the 
declining  period  of  life,  and  at  the  advanced  age  of  sixty-four  years, 
removed,  among  the  first  colonists,  to  Galesburg,  there  to  share  in 
the  privations  and  cares  incident  to  all  pioneer  life.  This  he  did 
wholly  for  the  sake  of  the  College.  Happily  his  life  has  been  spared 
and  the  clearness  and  vigor  of  his  mind,  until  now,  at  almost  four- 
score years  and  ten,  he  sees  Knox  College  richly  endowed,  having 
large  and  costly  buildings,  and  promising  to  accomplish  in  the 
future  a  iiobler  mission  than  even  its  prayerful  and  hopeful  founders 
dared  anticipate  for  it. 

It  is  a  fortunate  thing  that  no  uncertainty  rests  upon  the  question, 
who  were  these  Subscribers  who  founded  the  College.  The  original 
subscription-book  used  by  Mr.  Gale,  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  College,  and  contains  the  names  of  all  the  Subscribers.  On 
the  first  pages  of  this  book  are  the  printed  circular  and  plan  of  Mr. 
Gale,  immediately  following  which  is  this  heading :  "  We,  the 
Subscribers,  agree  to  pay  the  sums  set  opposite  to  our  names  respec- 
tively, to  such  person  or  persons  as  shall  be  designated  by  the  Sub- 
scribers, or  Board  of  Trustees  elected  by  them,  for  the  purposes,  and 
in  the  manner  set  forth  in  the  foregoing  printed  Preamble  and  Plan 
for  establishing  literary  institutions  in  the  West."  This  is  followed 
by  the  names  of  forty-six  persons,  as  Subscribers.  Some  of  these 
persons  had  withdrawn  from  the  enterprise  before  the  first  meeting 
of  the  Subscribers.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  agent,  in  his 
report,  after  stating  that  the  number  on  his  list  was  forty-six,  added 
that  "  there  were  a  few  who  subscribed,  but  who,  discouraged  about 
our  making  a  purchase,  have  settled  in  Michigan."  These  and  some 
others,  making  twelve  in  all,  never  met  with  the  Subscribers,  and 
never  shared  either  in  their  counsels  or  in  their  pecuniary  obliga- 
tions. They  never  were  regarded  by  the  other  Subscribers,  from 
the  time  of  their  first  meeting  onward,  as  in  any  manner  connected 
with  them  in  their  Association.  The  remaining  thirty -four  names 
alone  designate  the  persons  referred  to  in  the  foregoing  documents 
as  the  "  Subscribers,"  by  whom  the  'College  was  founded.  Their 
names  are  found,  not  only  in  the  subscription  book,  but  also  in  the 


ITS   FOUNDERS.  27 

"  Memorandum  of  Sales,"  and  in  the  "  Treasurer's  Books,"  which 
are  referred  to  in  the  minutes  of  the  third  meeting,  in  connection 
with  the  distribution  of  the  lands.  These  last  named  documents 
show  necessarily  who  were  the  true  "  Subscribers,"  for  they  contain 
the  names  of  the  persons  who  at  that  third  meeting  received  farm- 
lands for  their  subscription,  according  to  the  original  plan.  The 
Records  of  the  College  also  contain  many  of  their  names.  The 
Records,  the  "Treasurer's  Books"  and  the  "Memorandum  of 
Sales  "  give  thirty-four  of  the  names  that  are  contained  in  the  sub- 
scription book,  and  they  give  no  others,  as  the  Subscribers.  The 
College  Board  opened  its  treasury  books,  consisting  of  a  "  Blotter," 
a  "  Journal,"  and  a  "Ledger,"  with  the  names  of  those  Subscribers. 
Fortunately,  also,  several  of  the  principal  men  among  them,  Mr. 
Gale,  Mr.  Ferris  and  Professor  Losey,  are  now  living  in  Galesburg. 
These  men  were  familiar  with  the  names  of  their  associates,  and  they 
all  affirm  the  correctness  of  the  list  contained  in  the  foregoing  docu- 
ments. The  account  books  of  the  College  were  opened  and  were 
kept  for  years  afterward  by  Professor  Losey,  as  Treasurer  of  the 
College,  and  the  names  of  the  original  Subscribers  were  entered  by 
him  in  those  books. 

The  names  of  these  Subscribers  are  given  below,  together  with 
the  amount  which  each  one  pledged  in  return  for  farm-lands  at 
their  meeting,  in  January,  1836.  The  sum  of  these  pledges,  as  will  be 
seen,  exceeded  by  several  thousand  dollars  the  whole  cost  of  the 
land  and  all  the  expenses  attending  its  purchase.  In  other  words, 
these  men  not  only  paid  for  all  the  land  which  they  donated  to  the 
College,  but  they  also  put  several  thousand  dollars  of  money  into  its 
treasury.  The  church  relations  of  the  Subscribers,  at  the  time  they 
founded  the  College,  are  given  in  this  connection  also ;  but  the 
abundant  and  positive  testimony  upon  which  the  statement  is  based, 
which  of  necessity  is  of  some  length,  will  not  be  given  until  after 
some  other  matters  have  first  been  introduced.  The  Subscribers 
were  all  church  members  except  Mr.  Thomas  Gilbert,  one  of  the 
Exploring  Committee.  He  was  at  that  time,  and  has  always  been 
since,  a  Presbyterian  in  sentiment,  and  a  supporter  of  a  Presby- 
terian church,  of  which  his  wife  has,  during  the  whole  period,  been 
a  member.  Mr.  Timothy  B.  Jervis,  at  the  time  he  served  as  one  of 
the  Exploring  Committee,  was  a  candidate  for  the  ministry,  and 
very  soon  after  was  licensed  and  ordained  a  Presbyterian  minister, 
by  his  Presbytery  in  New  York. 


28  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

FOUNDERS  OF  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

PRESBYTERIAN    MINISTERS  : 
NAME.  RESIDENCE.  AMOUNT  OF  PURCHASE. 

1.  Rev,  Geo.  W.  Gale,  Whitesboro',  N.  Y $3,980 

2.  "  Hiram  H.  Kellogg,  Clinton,             "  2,400 

3.  "  John  Waters,  New  Hartford, "  2,480 

4.  "  Timothy  B.  Jervis,  Rome,                "  400 

5.  "  Phineas  Camp,  Norway,            "  560 

6.  "  John  Gray,  Troy,                 "  320 

7.  "  John  Frost,  Whitesboro',    "  640 

Total  by  Presbyterian  Ministers $10,780 

PRESBYTERIAN   ELDERS  : 

8.  Nehemiah  West,  Ira,  N.  Y $1,480 

9.  John  McMullen,  Western,         "       400 

10.  John  C.  Smith,  Utica,  "  270 

11.  I.  S.  Fitch,  Bainbridge,  "  400 

12.  Smith  Griffith,  Nassau,  "  '.  480 

13.  Lewis  Kinney,  Greenbush,  "  400 

14.  Amatus  Robbins,  Troy,  "  400 

15.  Chauncey  Peirce,  Troy,  "  400 

16.  Gurdon  Grant,  Troy,  "  400 

17.  Samuel  Bond,  Adams,  "  560 

Total  by  Presbyterian  Elders ." $5,190 

LAY  MEMBERS  OF  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCHES  : 

18.  Silvanus  Ferris,  Russia,          N.  Y $3,160 

19.  Nehemiah  H.  Losey,  Whitesboro',     "     600 

20.  Sylvester  Bliss,  Adams,  ':     960 

21.  Roland  Sears,  Whitesboro',     "     400 

22.  Silvanus  Town,  Troy,  "     480 

it 

25.  James  Barton,                        Schoharie,  • "  800 

26.  Sidney  Rice,                           Troy,  "  400 

27.  Miss   Araminta  P.  Rice,    Troy,  "  320 

28.  J.  B.  Marsh,                           Amsterdam,  "  400 

29.  Thos.  Gilbert,  ( see  above),  Rome,  "  480 

Total  by  Presbyterian  Church  Members $9,600 

CONGREGATIONALIST  : 

30.  Thomas  Simmons,  Hamilton,  N.  Y 

By     Presbyterians $25,570 

By     Congregationalists 800 

Total $26,370 


ITS   FOUNDEKS.  29 

To  the  foregoing  list  must  be  added  the  names  of  four  persons 
who  were  Subscribers,  and  who  aided  by  their  counsels  and  labors 
in  founding  the  College,  but  who  purchased  no  lands,  preferring  to 
leave  their  portion  to  be  sold  by  the  College,  when  it  was  found 
that  the  other  Subscribers  had  pledged  more  than  enough  to  pay 
for  all  the  land  bought  by  the  Association.  These  persons  were  all 
Presbyterians : 

31.  Jeremiah  Holt,      Watertown,  N.  Y.,  an  Elder. 

32.  George  Stedman,  Rome,  " 

33.  Benj.  P.  Johnson,      "  " 

34.  Walter  Webb,       Adams,  " 

The  foregoing  statement  shows,  that  of  the  thirty-four  Subscribers 
who  founded  Knox  College,  thirty-three  were  Presbyterians,  and 
one  only  was  a  Congregationalist.  It  shows,  also,  that  these  Sub- 
scribers, at  their  meeting  in  January,  1836,  after  having  directed 
their  Purchasing  Committee  to  convey  all  the  lands  held  by  them  to 
the  College,  then  bought  back  for  themselves  a  portion  of  those 
.lands,  at  greatly  increased  prices,  pledging  to  the  College  treasury, 
in  payment  thereof,  the  sum  of  twenty-six  thousand  three  hundred 
and  seventy  dollars.  Of  this  sum,  eight  hundred  dollars  were 
pledged  by  a  Congregationalist — all  the  rest  was  pledged  by  Pres- 
byterians. The  whole  sum  pledged  exceeded  the  cost  of  the  land, 
and  all  expenses  of  the  Association,  by  about  ten  thousand  dollars. 
The  whole  amount  of  farm  lands  piirchased  by  the  Subscribers  at 
this  time  was  5,240  acres. 

A  colony,  composed  principally  of  a  large  number  of  the  Sub- 
scribers and  their  families,  removed,  as  early  in  1836  as  was  pos- 
sible, upon  the  ground  where  the  College  was  to  be  located.  The 
Institutions  of  learning,  which  they  had  come  to  build  up,  soon 
proved  a  great  attraction  to  persons  who  were  looking  for  a  new 
western  home  for  themselves,  and  early  began  to  draw  in  settlers 
from  various  quarters,  and  of  various  shades  of  religious  belief.  It 
soon  became  evident  that  the  College  would  have  no  difficulty  in 
filling  its  treasury  by  the  sale  of  its  lands — and  that  the  more  land 
it  could  retain  for  future  sale,  the  better  it  would  be  for  its  pros- 
perity. Under  these  circumstances,  some  of  the  Subscribers,  who 
had  not  removed  to  Galesburg,  were  induced  to  allow  their  lands, 
which  they  had  bought,  to  go  to  the  College,  instead  of  the  money 
which  they  had  pledged  for  them.  Eight  of  them,  viz :  Messrs. 
Griffith,  Gilbert,  Bond,  Peirce,  Bliss,  Marsh,  and  Rice,  and  Miss 


30  KNOX    COLLEGE. 

A.  P.  Rice,  returned  in  all  720  acres.  They  did  this  at  a  pecuniary 
sacrifice  to  themselves,  as  the  land  was  already  worth  more  than 
the  price  at  which  they  had  bought  it.  But  their  sole  object  had 
been  to  establish  the  College  upon  a  solid  basis,  and  they  cheerfully 
sacrificed  their  OAvn  interests  for  its  welfare.  By  their  act,  the 
College  received  a  less  amount  of  money  from  the  Subscribers  than 
had  been  pledged  by  them  at  first,  but  it  received,  instead  thereof, 
land  which  was  already  worth  more  than  the  money,  and  which  was 
continually  increasing  in  value.  After  the  return  of  these  lands, 
there  remained,  pledged  to  be  paid  by  the  other  Subscribers,  nearly 
twenty-three  thousand  dollars.  The  College,  however,  received 
from  them  a  larger  sum  than  this,  from  the  fact  that  during  the  two 
years  that  passed  before  the  Corporate  Board  began  to  give  any 
deeds,  many  of  the  Subscribers  sold  a  part  or  the  whole  of  their 
lands  to  other  settlers,  and  generally  at  advanced  prices ;  and  in 
many  such  instances  they  allowed  the  new  purchaser  to  pay  the 
increased  amount  directly  to  the  College.  In  one  instance  Mr. 
Silvanus  Ferris  allowed  the  College  to  sell  for  its  own  benefit  four 
hundred  acres  of  the  land  taken  by  him,  on  the  express  condition 
that  it  should  be  sold  at  an  advance  of  one-third  upon  the  price 
which  he  was  to  pay  for  it.  The  land  taken  by  Mr.  J.  Barton  was 
sold  very  early  at  an  advance  of  twenty-five  per  cent,  upon  the 
price  at  which  he  had  taken  it,  and  the  College  received  the  money. 
Several  others  pursued  the  same  generous  course  toward  the  Col- 
lege, so  that  its  treasury  received  from  the  Subscribers  for  their 
farm  lands  not  less  than  twenty-five  thousand  dollars.  Less  than 
one-thirtieth  of  this  sum  came  from  a  Congregationalist — all  the  re- 
mainder came  from  Presbyterians.  Many  of  the  Subscribers  who 
removed  to  Galesburg  purchased  village  property,  and  in  this  way 
the  College  received  from  them  several  thousand  dollars  in  addition 
to  the  above  sum.  It  has  always  been  the  custom  of  the  College  to 
sell  its  lands  upon  time  when  desired,  allowing  the  purchaser  usually 
two  or  three  years  within  which  to  pay  for  them.  It  often  happens 
that  the  land  thus  sold  is  again  sold  by  the  first  purchaser,  and 
sometimes  it  passes  in  this  way  through  the  hands  of  several  parties, 
before  the  last  payment  is  made  to  the  College,  and  before  any  deed 
has  been  given.  In  such  cases  the  common  practice  is  for  the  Col- 
lege to  give  a  deed  directly  to  the  last  purchaser,  provided  the  in- 
termediate parties  consent.  This  practice  saves  expense,  and  has 
its  advantages  in  several  ways.  But  it  is  evident  at  once  that 


KNOX    COLLEFE.  31 

where  such  a  practice  prevails  the  county  records  of  deeds  no  longer 
furnish  any  correct  evidence  as  to  the  actual  purchaser  from  the 
College.  They  show  correctly  to  whom  the  deed  was  given,  pro- 
vided it  is  on  record,  but  not  to  whom  the  College  sold  its  lands, 
and  from  whom  it  received  the  money  paid  for  them.  There  are 
not  a  few  men  in  Galesburg  whose  names  appear  in  the  recorder's 
office  as  purchasers  of  land  from  the  College,  while  the  fact  is  they 
bought  of  other  parties,  and  paid  their  money  to  other  parties. 
The  county  records  never  show  with  certainty  who  paid  the  money 
into  the  College  treasury  for  its  lands — its  own  treasury  books 
alone  show  this.  Yet,  simple  as  this  matter  is,  it  has  been  strangely 
overlooked  in  a  recent  published  report  of  the  Congregational  Gen- 
eral Association  of  this  State  concerning  Knox  College;  and  that 
report  very  sagely  presents  a  list  of  names,  drawn  professedly  from 
the  county  records,  to  show  who  paid  money  into  the  College  treas- 
ury in  exchange  for  its  lands.  That  list,  as  will  be  shown  in  due 
time,  has  in  it  a  large  apocryphal  element;  but  even  if  it  were 
entirely  correct  it  would  be  of  no  value  for  the  purpose  for  which 
it  is  introduced. 

The  reader  will  notice  from  the  foregoing  facts,  that  the  Subscri- 
bers not  only  paid  the  full  amount  pledged  by  them  in  their  sub- 
scription list,  but  they  paid  several  thousand  dollars  more.  The 
statement  made  of  late  by  Mr.  Blanchard  and  his  friends,  that  only 
a  very  small  part  of  the  amount  subscribed  was  ever  paid,  is  so  far 
from  true,  that  in  fact,  as  the  College  books  show,  much  more  than 
the  full  amount  subscribed  was  paid  by  the  Subscribers.  Several  of 
them  paid  two  or  three-fold  more  than  the  sum  they  had  at  first  sub- 
scribed. The  reader  will  bear  in  mind,  also,  that  when  these  Sub- 
scribers divided  among  themselves  a  part  of  the  lands  which  they 
had  purchased  of  the  government,  and  pledged  the  price  thereof 
to  the  College  treasury,  they  were  only  carrying  out  their  original 
plan.  By  that  plan  they  were  to  keep  a  part  of  the  lands  for  them- 
selves, and  were  to  donate  the  rest  to  the  College.  They  found  at 
last  that  it  would  be  a  simpler  process  to  bestow  the  legal  title  to  the 
whole  upon  their  newly  organized  College  Board  and  then  take 
their  deeds  from  that  Board,  rather  than  from  the  Purchasing  Com- 
mittee. In  this  way  they  appear  as  purchasers  of  lands  from  the 
College.  But  the  lands  they  thus  purchased  were  their  own  accord- 
ing to  the  previous  plan,  and  according  to  a  mode  of  division  already 
agreed  upon,  when  the  College  was  founded.  These  Subscribers, 


32  KNOX    COLLEGE. 

therefore,  while  nominally  purchasers  from  the  College,  were  in  fact 
purchasers  from  themselves,  as  an  Association.  For  the  land  ap- 
propriated by  themselves  they  paid  enough  to  cover  the  cost  of  all 
the  lands  purchased  by  their  Committee,  and  also  to  put  into  the 
College  treasury  for  its  own  use  about  eight  thousand  dollars.  They 
also  made  a  free  donation  of  all  the  land  not  taken  by  themselves, 
to  the  College,  to  be  sold  at  such  times  and  to  such  parties  as  it 
pleased. 

After  the  College  had  been  founded,  in  January,  1836,  and  had 
received  its  donation  of  lands,  several  persons,  not  Subscribers, 
came  forward  and  became  purchasers  of  farm  lands.  A  few  of 
these  persons  intended  to  remove  West,  and  bought  for  their  own 
benefit — others  bought  in  order  to  help  on  the  enterprise.  They 
all,  except  the  one  first  named,  retained  their  lands. 

The  following  are  their  names : 

Rev.  L.  H.  Loss,  Presbyterian,  New  York  Mills,  K  Y. . .  $    320 

"      Ira  Pettibone,         "           Whitesboro',  N.  Y 120 

R  N.  Randall,               "                   "                "       1,040 

Isaac  Mills,                       "           Elder,  Columbia,  N.  Y. . .  2,020 
S.  Pomeroy,  Presbyterian,  (Dr.  Hopkins'  Church.)  Au- 
burn, K  Y 800 

S.  Williams,  Presbyterian,  Russia,  N.  Y 1,040 

Samuel  Tornpkins,  Congregationalist,  Hamilton,  N.  Y. ..  560 

R.  Root,  (not  a  church  member)  Camden,  N.  Y 320 

Total $6,220 

Of  this  amount  the  sum  of  $5,900  was  actually  paid  to  the  Col- 
lege. One  Congregationalist  paid  $560.  Presbyterians  paid  $5,020. 

The  agent  of  the  College,  Rev.  Mr.  Gale,  came  to  Illinois  early 
in  1836,  in  order  to  secure  a  survey  of  the  town  plat,  and  to  provide 
for  the  comfort  of  the  colonists.  During  that  year  and  the  next  he 
sold  farm  lands  for  the  College  to  a  large  number  of  settlers.  These 
persons  were  almost  all  strangers  to  the  founders  of  the  College  and 
had  known  nothing  of  the  enterprise  until  this  time.  They  came 
to  Galesburg  for  the  sake  of  advancing  their  own  personal  interests, 
and  they  bought  College  lands  solely  for  this  purpose.  Many  of 
them  have  been  made  rich  by  the  lands  they  then  purchased.  The 
College  sold  to  all  purchasers  upon  exactly  the  same  terms.  Some 
of  them  were  Presbyterians,  some  were  Congregationalists,  and 
some  belonged  to  no  religious  denomination.  The  authors  of  the 
pamphlet  already  alluded  to,  entitled  "  Rights  of  Congregationalists 


PDECHA8EES  OF  FARM  LANDS.  33 

in  Knox  College,"  in  order  to  find  some  ground  on  which  to  rest  a 
claim  for  the  Congregational  body,  have  entirely  ignored  all  the 
action  of  the  founders  of  the  College  ;  and  have  presented  a  list  of 
names  of  the  early  settlers  in  Galesburg,  who  found  the  College 
already  established  when  they  came  here,  and  who  never  donated 
to  it  one  dollar  in  money  or  one  acre  of  land  ;  and  have  given  to 
these  men  the  credit  of  having  both  founded  and  endowed  the  Col- 
lege, and  for  the  reason  that  they  bought  farm  lands  from  the 
College  —  not  for  it,  but  from  it  —  for  their  own  personal  benefit ! 
That  pamphlet  claims,  in  naked  terms,  that  the  men  who  bought 
farm  lands  from  the  College  were,  in  so  doing,  its  founders,  and 
endowers !  The  folly  of  such  a  claim  needs  no  other  exposure  than 
its  simple  statement.  The  College  had  already  been  founded,  and 
all  its  lands  which  have  endowed  it,  had  been  donated  to  it,  before 
these  settlers  ever  saw  or  heard  of  Galesburg.  As,  however,  the 
question  is  thus  raised,  what  amount  of  money  has  been  paid  to  the 
College  for  its  farm  lands,  and  by  whom,  it  may  be  well  to  present 
here  the  facts  which  will  fully  answer  it.  The  following  list  em- 
braces the  names  of  all  the  purchasers  of  the  original  farm  lands  of 
the  College  from  the  close  of  the  last  meeting  of  the  Subscribers  in 
January,  1836,  down  to  the  present  time.  The  list  will  show  at  a 
glance  who  were  Congregationalists,  and  who  were  Presbyterians, 
and  who  belonged  to  neither  party  at  the  time  they  bought.  The 
total  amount  of  money  to  be  paid  by  each  class  of  purchasers  is 
also  given.  This  list  of  names  and  the  sums  attached  are  taken 
from  the  treasurer's  books,  and  have  been  carefully  examined  by 
him  and  found  to  be  correct.  The  cultivated  farm  in  the  original 
purchase  has  been  sold  several  times,  and  as  often  returned  to  the 
College.  It  is  now  in  the  possession  of  a  German,  who  has  not  yet 
paid  for  it.  If  paid  for,  it  will  not  realize  enough  to  cover  its  cost. 
For  these  reasons  it  is  not  embraced  in  the  present  statement. 
There  are  persons  not  named  below  who  have  received  deeds  from 
the  College,  but  who  purchased  either  of  the  Subscribers  or  of  other 
parties,  and  paid  their  money  to  them  or  according  to  their  direction. 
There  are  others,  also,  who  bought  and  made  one  or  more  partial 
payments,  but  who  afterward  returned  the  land  to  the  College,  and 
received  back  the  money  they  had  paid.  None  of  these,  of  course, 
are  named  as  purchasers.  The  list  here  given  embraces  all  who 
actually  bought  the  original  farm  lands  from  the  College,  and  not 
from  the  Subscribers  or  other  intermediate  parties,  and  who  never 
3 


34:  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

returned  them.  The  records  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Galesburg  have  furnished  the  church  relations  of  all  but  four  of 
those  among  the  purchasers  who  are  classed  as  Congregationalists  or 
Presbyterians.  Two  of  those  four,  are  W.  A.  Wood  and  G.  W.  G-. 
Ferris,  both  of  whom  were  members  of  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church  in  this  city,  of  which  the  writer  of  this  was  pastor,  at  the 
time  they  bought.  They  were  both  decided  Presbyterians.  The 
other  two  are  W.  B.  Hamlin  and  H.  Wilcox,  who  are  classed 
according  to  their  well-known  preferences. 

PURCHASERS  OF  FARM  LANDS  FROM  THE  COLLEGE. 

PRESBYTERIANS.  In  1836-7:  B.  Allen,  E.  Pomeroy,  E.  H.  King, 
Hitchcock  Family,  H.  Conger,  A.  Tyler,  Jr.,  G.  W.  Gale,  bought 
eighty  acres  of  the  College,  W.  Holyoke,  H.  Wilcox,  $5,120.  "in 
1854:  W.  A.  Wood,  G.  W.  G.  Ferris,  $12,480.14. 

Total  by  Presbyterians,  $17,600.14. 

CONGREGATIONALISTS.  In  1836-7:  E.  Swift,  M.  Chambers,  E. 
Farnham,  L.  Sanderson,  R.  Payne,  W.  B.  Hamlin,  $7,920.  In 
1852:  J.  Blanchard,  $2,400.  In  1854:  L.  Gary,  A.  B.  Clark, 

$2,840. 

Total  by  Congregationalists,  $13,160. 

NON-PROFESSORS.  In  1836-7 :  C.  S.  Colton,  M.  Miller,  L.  Chap- 
pel,  J.  Duston,  J.  West,  H.  Ferris,  $3,320.  In  1846:  J.  Jerauld, 
$500.  In  1850:  L.  Martin,  H.  Ferris,  $480.  In  1852:  J.  L. 
Clay,  $800.  In  1853:  A.G.Pearson,  $2,400.  In  1854:  J.  H. 
Barnett,  H.  C.  Foote,  $2,569.94.  In  1856:  J.  Thirlwell,  W.  B. 
Patterson,  $1,500. 

Total  by  Non-Professors,  $11,569,94. 

OTHER  PARTIES.     In  1850:     W.  D.  Lee,  Baptist.     In  1854:     S. 
Richardson,  Methodist.     Total,  $2,000. 
Total  by  all  classes,  $44,330.08. 

In  the  foregoing  list  are  thirty-seven  names.  The  list  of  Non. 
Professors  embraces  the  names  of  several  persons,  who,  after  they 
had  bought  of  the  College,  became  members  of  the  First  Church 
in  this  place,  while  it  was  purely  Presbyterian.  Of  that  number 
Mr.  C.  S.  Colton,  and  perhaps  one  or  two  others,  but  not  more,  are 
now  regarded  as  Congregationalists.  During  the  first  two  years 
after  the  College  had  been  founded,  frequent  sales  of  the  farm  lands 
were  made.  But  from,  the  early  part  of  1838,  down  to  1850,  a 
period  of  twelve  years,  no  more  farms  were  sold,  except  the  half  of 
one  quarter-section  in  1846.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  total  amount 


PURCHASERS  OF  FARM  LANDS.  35 

paid  by  Congregationalists,  including  Mr.  S.  Tompkins,  who  bought 
in  the  State  of  New  York,  for  farm  lands,  purchased  previous  to  the 
year  1852,  is  only  $8,480.  This  is  a  less  sum  than  that  paid  by  one 
Presbyterian  purchaser,  Mr.  G.  W.  G.  Ferris,  who  paid  $8,630.14. 
It  has  been  shown  that  the  Subscribers  paid  for  the  farm  lands 
bought  by  them,  $25,000;  and  that  other  parties  in  the  State  of 
New  York  paid  $5,900.  These  sums  added  to  that  paid  by  all 
classes  named  above,  give  $75,230.08  as  the  total  amount  paid  into 
the  College  treasury  for  all  its  original  farm  lands  which  have  ever 
been  sold.  By  recalling  the  statements  already  made,  it  will  be 
easy  to  determine  how  much  of  this  amount  has  been  paid  by  Pres- 
byterians and  how  much  by  Congregationalists. 

PRESBYTERIANS.  CONGREGATIONALISTS. 

Subscribers $24,200  One  Subscriber $      800 

Others  in  N.  Y. . ..     5.020             S.  Tompkins,  in  N.  Y. .        560 
In  Galesburg,  111..  17,600  14       In  Galesburg,  111 13,160 

$46,820  14  $14,520 

The  sum  paid  by  Non-Professors,  and  by  others  not  included  under 
either  of  the  above  heads,  is  $13,889  94,  which  is  almost  equal  to 
the  whole  sum  ever  paid  by  all  purchasers  who  were  Congregation- 
alists. 

Much  has  been  said  of  late  about  the  large  amount  of  money 
paid  to  the  College  by  the  earliest  Congregational  purchasers  ;  and 
one  of  those  gentlemen  has  allowed  a  statement  to  be  published 
over  his  own  name,  in  which  he  is  represented  as  having  done  very 
much  to  give  success  to  the  enterprise  during  its  first  years.  The 
following  facts  will  correct  the  erroneous  impressions  made  by  such 
statements  :  The  only  two  Congregationalists  who  bought  a  large 
amount  of  land  during  the  early  years  of  the  College,  were  Mr. 
Swift  and  Mr.  Chambers.  The  agent  very  reluctantly  sold  to  them 
more  land  than  he  had  allowed  others  to  take,  because  they  repre- 
sented themselves  as  able  to  control  a  large  amount  of  capital,  which 
they  would  secure  to  the  benefit  of  the  colony.  Even  then,  how- 
ever, the  whole  sum  to  be  paid  by  them  was,  as  already  shown,  only 
a  few  thousand  dollars.  Mr.  Chambers  was  allowed  to  select,  at  a 
merely  nominal  price,  the  best  business  lot  in  the  village,  with  the 
clear  understanding  that  he  was  to  erect  upon  it,  at  once,  a  store, 
and  engage  in  mercantile  business.  As  soon,  however,  as  he  had 
secured  the  title  to  his  property,  he  went  to  the  neighboring  town 


36  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

of  Knoxville,  the  county  seat,  and  there  bought  a  lot  and  erected 
upon  it  a  large  store,  and  for  five  years  employed  his  capital  and 
energies  there,  in  total  indifference  to  the  business  interests  of  Gales- 

O  ' 

burg.  He  made  very  little  improvement  upon  his  lands,  and  for 
many  years  a  large  portion  of  the  amount  due  on  them  remained 
unpaid.  The  College,  therefore,  was  never  greatly  benefitted  by 
him.  The  whole  sum  engaged  to  be  paid  by  all  Congregational 
purchasers,  for  farm  lands,  previous  to  the  year  1852,  was  only 
$8,480.  Of  this,  a  large  portion  remained  unpaid  for  many  years. 
Plainly,  therefore,  the  College  did  not  receive  very  much  money 
from  Congregational  sources.  Mr.  Blanchard  is  represented  in  the 
"Rights  of  Congregationalists"  as  one  of  the  e ar ly  purchasers  of 
College  lands,  and  as  having  paid  for  them,  greatly  to  the  prosper- 
ity of  the  College.  The  truth  is  this :  Mr.  Blanchard  bought  his 
lands  for  $2,400,  in  1852,  seventeen  years  after  the  College  was 
founded.  In  1857,  when  he  was  removed  from  the  Presidency,  he 
had  paid  the  interest  on  the  amount  and  no  more.  The  College  then 
donated  him  $1,400,  and  credited  him  with  that  sum  on  his  note. 
After  this  was  done,  he  brought  in  a  bill  of  $200  against  the  College, 
which  was  allowed,  and  then  modestly  asked  for  the  balance  of  his 
note.  His  request  was  not  granted,  and  the  note  remains  unpaid. 
In  this  way  he  assisted  in  "  starting  "  the  College,  with  his  money. 
These  trifles  would  not  have  been  noticed,  had  not  the  "  Rights  of 
Congregationalists  "  claimed  that  Knox  College  owes  nearly  all  its 
success  to  the  money  paid  for  its  farm  lands  by  Congregationalists, 
and  that  it  was  especially  their  money  "  which  started  the  College," 
and  which  has  endowed  it.  The  simple  truth  concerning  all  of  them 
is,  that  practically  the  College  has  endowed  them.  Galesburg  owes 
its  intelligence,  and  enterprise,  and  consequent  prosperity  to  the 
College. 

PRAIRIE    COLLEGE. 

The  Board  of  Trustees,  appointed  by  the  founders  of  the  Col- 
lege, met  on  the  8th  day  of  January,  1836,  the  day  after  their  ap- 
pointment, in  Whitesboro',  New  York,  and  organized,  and  trans- 
acted some  business,  of  which  the  following  items  are  of  present 
interest :  "  Voted  that  Gale  and  Ferris  be  a  committee  to  provide 
for  building  a  College  edifice  and  house  of  entertainment:"  "Voted 
that  Messrs.  Gale  and  West  be  a  committee  to  provide  for  a  mill,  and 
for  cultivating  College  lands  :"  "  Voted  that  H.  H.  Kellogg  be  a  com- 


"PRAIKIE   COLLEGE."  37 

mittee  to  devise  plans,  etc  ,  for  a  Female  Seminary."  The  Board 
met  again,  in  the  same  place,  on  the  2nd  day  of  March,  following, 
when  it  was  "  Voted  that  a  boarding-house,  of  one  and  a  half 
stories  high,  twenty-six  by  thirty-six  feet  on  the  ground,  be  im- 
mediately erected :"  "Voted  that  N.  H.  Losey  be  appointed  a  sur- 
veyor for  the  colony,  and  that  the  expense  of  surveying  be  paid 
out  of  the  College  fund."  The  reader  will  bear  in  mind  that  these 
two  meetings  of  the  Board  were  held  in  New  York,  before  a  single 
settler  had  found  his  way  to  Galesburg,  and  before  an  acre  of  land 
had  been  sold  there.  At  these  meetings  it  was  determined  to  pro- 
ceed immediately  to  erect  a  College  edifice,  a  house  of  entertain- 
ment, a  mill,  a  boarding-house,  and  to  prepare  plans  for  a  Female 
Seminary.  These  facts  show  clearly  that  the  founders  of  the  Col- 
lege had  already  provided  the  means  which  would  "  start  itf  and 
that  they  did  not  depend  alone  upon  future  sales  of  land  for  the 
first  movement. 

The  Board  met  again  at  New  Hartford,  N.  Y.,  August  31st,  1836, 
when  it  was  "  Resolved  that  a  Committee  of  five  be  appointed  to 
inquire  into  the  propriety  of  applying  to  the  Legislature  for  an  act 
of  incorporation,  the  ensuing  winter,  and  to  make  such  application 
if  by  them  it  be  deemed  expedient." 

A  petition  for  a  charter  was  prepared,  in  which  the  names  of 
eleven  persons  were  designated  as  Trustees  ;  the  Board  when  full 
was  to  consist  of  twenty-five  members,  including  the  President  of 
the  College ;  the  remainder  of  the  Board  were  to  be  appointed  by 
those  already  designated.  The  petition  was  acted  upon,  and  a 
charter  granted  by  the  Legislature  of  Illinois,  in  February,  1837,  at 
Vandalia.  In  the  Charter  the  name  was  changed  from  "  Prairie 
College "  to  "  Knox  Manual  Labor  College."  (The  name  was 
changed  to  "  KNOX  COLLEGE  "  by  act  of  Legislature,  in  February, 
1857;  the  "  Manual  Labor  "  system  having  been  abandoned  at  an 
early  date.)  The  new  Board  appointed  in  the  Charter,  did  not  meet 
and  organize  until  in  August,  1837.  In  the  mean  time,  the  Board 
of  Prairie  College  continued  to  act,  as  it  did  also  for  some  months 
after  the  new  organization.  Under  date  of  March  28th,  1837,  at 
Galesburg,  they  "  Resolved  that  a  Committee  of  three  be  appointed 
to  fix  on  a  spot  for  a  permanent  burying  ground  for  the  colony,  to 
lay  out  and  procure  a  survey  of  the  same,"  etc.  At  the  same 
meeting,  the  "  Committee  on  Rents  reported  that  there  were  six 
houses  belonging  to  the  Trustees,  besides  the  school  house."  It 


38  KNOX    COLLEGE. 

was  also  "Voted  that  a  Committee  of  three  be  appointed  to  inquire 
into  the  condition  of  the  funds,  lands,  etc.,  belonging  to  the  Trus- 
tees, and  everything  pertaining  to  the  College,  that  this  Board  may 
be  prepared  to  make  a  correct  statement  to  the  new  Board,  and  to 
convey  to  them  the  property  of  this  Board." 

"  April  20th,  1837  :  Voted  that  five  acres,  or  the  south  half  of 
the  ten  acre  lot,  on  the  west  side  of  the  village  plat,  and  extending 
north  to  Main  street,  be  laid  out  for  a  burying  ground :  "  also 
"  Voted  that  the  College  buildings  be  erected  directly  south  of 
Broad  street,  sixty  rods  from  the  street  running  east  and  west  on 
the  south  side  of  the  village." 

"June  15th,  1837:  Voted  that  the  treasurer  be  instructed  to 
loan  to  Mr.  John  Kendall  two  thousand  dollars:"  also  "Voted  to 
loan  the  Mill  Company  a  sum  not  to  exceed  $1,500." 

"July  21?t,  1837:  Voted  that  the  Chairman  call  the  incorpo- 
rated Board  of  Trustees  of  Knox  Manual  Labor  College  to  meet  on 
the  second  Wednesday  of  August,  at  the  house  of  John  G.  Sanborn 
of  Knoxville :  "  also  "  Voted  that  all  the  College  lands  on  sections 
fourteen  and  twenty-three,  making  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres, 
be  deeded  to  persons  in  trust,  for  the  purpose  of  a  Theological 
Seminary."  At  a  subsequent  meeting,  on  the  1st  day  of  August, 
1837,  the  same  Board  voted  "  that  the  south-east  block  of  the  vil- 
lage plat,  as  it  now  is,  be  reserved  for  the  site  of  a  Theological  Sem- 
inary, if  it  should  be  wanted  for  that  purpose."  These  lands,  thus 
set  apart  for  a  Theological  Seminary,  were  designed  exclusively  for 
a  Presbyterian  Seminary.  This  was  the  intention  of  the  donors,  as 
they  have  always  claimed,  and  the  committee  who  held  the  land  in 
trust  always  acted  in  view  of  that  intention,  and  always  held  the  land 
for  the  Presbyterian  body,  and  for  no  other.  When  it'was  proposed, 
a  few  years  ago,  to  establish  a  New  School  Presbyterian  Theological 
Seminary  in  the  North-west,  this  property  was  offered  as  an  induce- 
ment to  locate  the  institution  in  Galesburg.  The  Seminary  was  not 
located  there,  and  in  1853  the  land  all  reverted  to  the  College.  The 
three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  had  been  included,  in  the  mean  time, 
within  the  corporate  limits  of  the  city,  and  nearly  all  have  since  been 
sold  at  high  prices.  A  large  share  of  the  present  funds  of  the  College 
has  been  derived  from  the  sale  of  these  lands.  The  town  property 
has  ever  been  the  chief  source  of  wealth  to  the  College.  This  prop- 
erty has  been  bought  by  all  classes  of  people,  having  all  shades  of 
religious  belief.  If  the  control  of  the  College  were  to  be  vested,  in 
accordance  with  the  latest  claim,  in  those  who  have  paid  their  money 
into  its  treasury  in  exchange  for  its  lands,  the  College  Board  would 
embrace  the  representatives  of  almost  all  forms  of  belief  that  are 
known  "under  the  whole  heavens."  And  the  share  of  Congre- 
gationalists  in  such  a  Board,  for  their  portion  of  money  paid,  would 
be  small  indeed. 


NEW   ORGANIZATION.  30 

"NEW  ORGANIZATION." 

"  August  9th,  1837  :  Trustees  of  Knox  Manual  Labor  College  met 
for  the  first  time,  at  the  house  of  Matthew  Chambers,  of  Knoxville. 
Present — John  Waters,  George  W.  Gale,  John  G.  Sanborn,  George 
H.  Wright,  Parnach  Owen,  Erastus  Swift,  Thomas  Simmons,  Mat- 
thew Chambers,  Neheiniah  West  and  N.  H.  Losey. 

John  Waters  was  chosen  President,  N.  H.  Losey,  Clerk,  and 
John  G.  Sanborn,  Treasurer,  for  the  term  of  one  year. 

On  motion,  it  was  resolved  that  Wm.  Holyoke,  Peter  Butler,  of 
Monmouth,  and  Silvanus  Ferris  be  added  to  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

On  motion,  the  following  preamble  and  resolution  were  adopted  : 

WHEREAS,  an  Association  of  gentlemen,  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  was  formed  with  a  view  of  establishing  a  College,  and  other 
Seminaries,  in  this  State,  and  having  purchased  lands  and  raised 
funds  for  said  object,  in  Knox  county,  township  eleven  north,  of 
range  one  east,  of  the  fourth  principal  meridian  ;  and  whereas,  by  a 
petition  from  said  Association  and  others,  a  charter  for  a  College 
and  Preparatory  School,  with  power  to  add  Professorships  of  Law 
and  Medicine,  in  said  township,  has  been  granted  by  the  Legislature 
of  this  State ;  we,  the  persons  named  as  Trustees  in  said  charter, 
have  been  organized  this  day :  And  whereas,  the  said  Association 
have  proposed  to  make  over  said  property  to  this  Board, 

Resolved,  That  we  will  receive  said  property,  and  all  of  it,  with 
the  express  design  of  carrying  into  effect  the  original  purpose  of 
said  Association,  so  far  as  the  charter  and  the  means  in  our  hands, 
or  to  be  received,  shall  permit. 

On  motion,  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed 
for  six  months,  to  execute  the  orders  of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

Resolved,  That  the  committee  above  named,  who  shall  be  styled 
the  Executive  Committee,  be  authorized  to  sell  and  dispose  of  the 
lands  which  may  be  granted  to  this  Board,  under  such  regulations 
as  have  been  heretofore  adopted  by  the  Association,  denominated 
the  *  Trustees  of  Prairie  College,'  and  that  said  Executive  Commit- 
tee be  governed  by  the  resolutions  and  orders  of  said  Association 
in  the  management  of  the  property  and  funds  belonging  to,  or 
which  may  be  deeded  to  this  Board." 

The  Corporate  Board  having  fully  organized,  the  former  Board 
met  "January  19th,  1838,"  when  "  on  motion,  it  was  Resolved,  That 
deeds  of  all  the  Colony  purchase  be  made  from  the  Purchasing 
Committee  to  the  Corporate  Board  of  Trustees,  and  from  them  to 
individuals ;  except  such  parts  of  the  purchase  as  were  laid  out  into 
village  property,  and  such  other  property  as  is  designed  for  the 
benefit  of  a  Theological  Seminary." 

"Resolved,  That  the  above  excepted  property  be  deeded  directly 
from  the  Purchasing  Committee  to  a  Committee  of  Trust,  who  shall 
manage  it  according  to  the  instructions  to  be  contained  in  the  deed 
of  conveyance." 

The  same  Board,  at  a  meeting  held  "Feb.  12th,  1838,  Resolved, 


•JO  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

That  it  is  expedient  to  deed  the  village  property  to  the  incorporated 
Board  of  Trustees ;  and  that  the  property  designed  for  the  benefit 
of  a  Theological  Seminary  only  be  deeded  to  a  Committee  of 
Trust." 

"Feb.  19th,  1838.  Resolved,  That  the  south-east  quarter  of 
block  24,  be  reserved  for  a  meetinghouse." 

"  A  meeting  of  the  Trustees  of  Knox  Manual  Labor  College  was 
held  March  7th,  1838,"  at  which,  after  enumerating  the  donations  of 
lots  made  by  the  old  Board  for  a  burying  ground,  a  meeting-house, 
etc.,  it  was  "Resolved,  That  said  burying  ground  be  deeded  to  the 
Trustees  of  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  SOCIETY  OF  GALESBUKG;  and  that 
the  meeting-house  and  parsonage  lots  be  deeded  also  to  said  trus- 
tees, for  the  uses  mentioned  above." 

"Resolved,  That  the  President  and  Secretary  be  directed  to  give 
deeds  to  all  who  have  purchased  land  of  the  former  proprietors,  on 
the  conditions  of  the  purchase  as  specified  in  their  books  :  Provided, 
the  purchasers  give  sufficient  security  to  this  Board  for  moneys  un- 
paid on  such  purchase." 

"Resolved,  That  all  deeds  for  lands  in  this  township,  given  by 
this  Board,  have  a  clause  attached  to  the  same  prohibiting  the 
manufacture  or  sale  of  intoxicating  drinks." 

The  last  resolution  was  soon  after  modified  so  as  to  apply  only  to 
village  property,  and  not  to  farms. 

The  foregoing  records  and  other  facts  taken  from  the  College 
books,  show  conclusively  that  the  act  of  the  Subscribers  at  their 
last  meeting  in  founding  the  College,  was  not  a  mere  form,  but  that 
the  College  was  in  the  fullest  sense  founded  at  that  time.  They 
show  that  the  Subscribers  at  that  meeting  not  only  founded  the 
College,  but  also  endowed  it — how  abundantly  we  shall  soon  see. 
They  show  that  from  the  beginning  the  College  had  money  in  its 
treasury,  and  that  very  little  of  that  money  came  from  Congrega- 
tionalists.  The  College  funds  in  1836,  the  first  year  of  its  existence^ 
were  in  such  a  state  that  the  Board  were  able  to  expend  in  purchas- 
ing timber  and  new  prairie  lands  and  other  property,  a  sum  exceed- 
ing $9,000.  The  treasurer  stated  in  a  report  dated  May  1st,  1838, 
a  few  weeks  only  after  the  date  of  the  last  record  given  above, 
that  the  "available  funds"  of  the  College  and  the  interest  due 
thereon,  amounted  to  $24,158.58.  By  "available  funds"  in  these 
reports  is  meant  the  notes  and  other  securities  held  by  the  College, 
upon  which  it  received  interest :  The  phrase  includes  no  other 
.kinds  of  property.  The  next  year,  "Nov.  5,  1839,"  the  "available 
funds"  were  reported  to  amount  to  $29,714.86,  after  paying  all  the 
indebtedness  of  the  Board.  In  1843,  when  the  Academy  and  Pre- 
paratory Department  had  been  in  complete  operation  five  years, 


THE   ENDOWMENT.  41 

and  the  College  two  years,  and  when  heavy  expenses  had  been 
incurred  for  buildings  and  other  improvements,  the  "  available 
funds,"  which  remained  unexhausted,  were  reported  as  amounting 
to  $26,068.56.  The  total  value,  at  that  time,  of  all  the  College 
property,  was  stated  in  the  same  report  to  be  equal  to  $74,514.56. 
From  that  time  until  the  present,  the  farm  lands  and  village  property 
of  the  College  have  continually  advanced  in  value,  and  although 
large  sums  of  money  have  been  expended  for  instruction  and  for 
buildings  and  other  objects,  yet  the  "  available  funds  "  have  steadily 
increased  until  now  they  amount  to  near  $206,000.  The  total  value 
of  all  the  property  owned  by  the  College  at  the  present  time,  is 
about  $400,000. 

THE  ENDOWMENT. 

The  following  facts  will  show  the  sources  from  which  the  endow- 
ment of  the  College  has  been  derived,  and  also  the  total  value  of  all 
the  property  which  it  has  ever  owned : 

1.  The  principal  source  of  all  the  wealth  of  the  College  has  been 
the  lands   donated  by  its  founders.     Of  six  HUNDRED  THOUSAND 
DOLLARS'  worth  of  property,  which  the  College  has  held,  as  will 
soon  be  shown,  all  but  about  forty-six  thousand  dollars'  worth,  has 
been  derived  from  those  lands.     The  founders  also  donated  eight 
thousand  dollars  in  money — this  sum  being  the  excess  which  they 
paid  into  the  College  treasury  above  the  entire  cost  of  the  whole 
enterprise  down  to  the  time  the  donation  was  made.     The  public 
will  judge  whether  the  men  who  made  those  donations  of  land  and 
money  to  a  College  of  their  own  creating  are  not  entitled  to  the 
credit  of  heaving  endowed  it. 

2.  The  Rev.  H.  H.  Kellogg,  while  President  of  the  College,  ob- 
tained, when  in  England,  in  1844,  at  the  World's  Convention,  a 
small  donation,  in  money  and  in  books,  valued  at  about  $2,000. 

In  1844,  Rev.  G.  W.  Gale  obtained  among  his  personal  friends  in 
New  York  and  elsewhere  about  1,600  volumes  of  books  for  the  College 
library,  and  over  $2,000  in  money,  a  part  of  which  was  expended 
for  a  philosophical  apparatus.  He  also  obtained  some  other  articles, 
which  were  sold  for  the  College.  Mi*.  Gale  states  that  the  greater 
part  of  these  donations  came  from  gentlemen  connected  with  Pres- 
byterian, Episcopalian  and  Unitarian  churches.  In  New  England  he 
obtained  some  money,  chiefly  from  gentlemen  in  Boston,  among 
whom  were  Messrs.  Lawrence,  Appleton,  Lowell,  Peter  Brooks,  and 


42  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

their  friends,  none  of  whom  were  Congregation alists.     These  dona- 
tions were  about  equal  to  $4,000. 

3.  In  1844,  J.  P.  Williston,  Esq.,  a  Congregationalist,  of  North 
Hampton,  Mass.,  became  interested  in  the   College,  through  Mr. 
Gale,  its  agent  at  the  time,  and  commenced  making  small  donations, 
of  a  few  hundred   dollars   each  year,  which   he   continued  for   a 
period  of  eleven  years.     At  the  end  of  the  eleven  years,  when  his 
donations   ceased,  he  had   contributed  to  the   College  funds,  accor- 
ding to  the  treasurer's  books,  about  $8,000.     Mr.  Blanchard  has 
credited  him  with  $2,000  more  than  this  amount,  but  that  sum  was 
given  principally  to  indigent  students,  and  not  to  the  College.     Mr. 
Williston  had  been  a  donor  to  the  College  two  years  before  Mr.  Blanch- 
ard became  its  President.    After  that  event,  his  donations  were  de- 
voted almost  wholly  to  the  salary  of  Mr.  Blanchard.  In  a  letter  written 
by  him  two  years   ago,  since   Mr.  Blanchard's  removal  from  the 
College,  and  published  at  the  time  in  Galesburg,  he  distinctly  de- 
clared that  in  contributing  to  Knox  College,  he  had  no  interest  in 
the     question    whether    it    was    to    be    under    Presbyterian    or 
Congregational  control. 

The  reader  will  bear  in  mind  that  when  Mr.  Williston  commenced 
his  small  annual  donations,  the  College  property  was  worth  about 
$80,000,  of  which  amount,  nearly  $30,000  were  "  available  funds." 
At  the  end  of  eleven  years,  his  donations  ceased,  because  the  Col- 
lege was  then  too  rich  to  need  what  he  could  give.  It  is  simply 
absurd,  therefore,  to  claim,  as  the  "Rights  of  Congregationalists " 
does,  that  "  in  a  dark  and  trying  hour,  he  came  forward  "  and 
saved  the  College ;  and  that  the  donations  made  at  that  period, 
principally  by  him,  were  so  valuable,  that  without  them  "  all  the 
previous  endowments  and  property  would  have  been  entirely  con- 
sumed in  current  expenses,  and  the  very  life  of  the  institution 
endangered."  Mr.  Williston  is  a  man  of  honorable  sentiments,  and 
would  not  willingly  suffer  his  friends  to  magnify  unduly  and  to 
the  injury  of  others,  the  importance  of  his  benefactions.  His  dona- 
tions were  made  from  generous  impulses,  and  his  name  will  ever  be 
cherished  by  the  College,  as  one  of  its  benefactors.  But  the 
College  did  not  depend  upon  him  for  its  life. 

4.  The  Society  for  promoting  Collegiate  and  Theological  educa- 
tion at  the  West,  began  to  aid  Knox  College  in  1846,  and  continued 
its  aid  until  1855,  when  the  College  had  become  so  prosperous  as  to 
need  no  further   aid    from    that  source.     Rev.   Theron  Baldwin, 


THE    ENDOWMENT.  43 

Corresponding  Secretary  of  that  Society,  in  a  letter  addressed  to 
the  writer,  gives  "the  sum  of  $5,864.88,  as  standing  on  the  books 
of  the  Society,  charged  to  Knox  College." 

5.  In  1853,  the  Hon.  Charles  Phelps,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  donated 
to  the  College,  eighteen  quarter-sections  of  land,  lying  in  Illinois. 
The  donation  was  made,  not  to  the  general  funds  of  the  College, 
but  for  the  specific  purpose  of  establishing  and  supporting  one  or 
more  new  professorships.  The  lands  were  not  to  be  sold  until  they 
would  bring  ten  dollars  an  acre,  or  a  total  of  $28,880.  The  follow- 
ing statement,  made  by  John  G.  Sanborn,  Esq.,  of  Knoxville,  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  College,  and  agent  of  Mr. 
Phelps  for  many  years,  will  show  the  value  of  the  land  when  the 
donation  was  made. 

"  I  was,  for  several  years,  agent  for  Charles  Phelps,  Esq.,  late  of 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  had  a  full  list  of  the  lands  which  he  owned 
in  Illinois,  and  was  familiar  with  the  value  of  them,  and  regularly 
paid  the  taxes  for  him,  and  at  the  time  of  his  donation  to  Knox  Col- 
lege I  estimated  the  value  of  the  lands  donated  by  him,  to  be  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  thousand  dollars. 

JOHN  G.  SANBORN. 

KNOXVILLE,  July  5,  1859. 

In  the  report  of  the  Treasurer  presented  to  the  Board  at  its  annual 
meeting  in  June,  1854,  one  year  after  the  donation  had  been  received, 
it  was  reported  as  worth  $20,356.95.  Since  that  time,  all  the  land, 
but  four  quarter-sections,  has  been  sold.  The  title  to  three  of  these 
quarter-sections  is  disputed,  and  is,  perhaps,'  worthless.  The  last 
report  of  the  Treasurer,  presented  in  June,  1859,  states  that  the 
amount  received  for  the  portion  of  these  lands  sold,  is  ($24,672. 15) 
twenty-four  thousand  six  hundred  and  seventy-two  dollars  and 
fifteen  cents.  The  same  report  estimates  the  four  quarter-sections 
unsold  as  worth  $10  an  acre,  which  would  make  their  entire  value 
equal  to  $6,400.  The  College  has  an  undisputed  right  to  only  one 
of  them,  the  value  of  which  is  $1,600.  This  sum,  added  to  the 
above,  gives  the  entire  present  value  of  this  donation  at  $26,272.15. 
After  these  statements  by  the  agent  of  Mr.  Phelps  and  by  the  Treas- 
urer of  the  College,  the  reader  is  asked  to  notice  the  statement  con- 
cerning the  same  matter  made  in  the  "  Rights  of  Congregation  alists," 
which,  it  will  be  remembered,  is  a  report  presented  at  the  last  annual 
meeting  of  the  Congregational  General  Association  of  this  State, 
and  adopted,  as  true,  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  that  body,  as  their 
own  minutes  declare.  That  report,  after  stating  truly,  but  indefi- 


44  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

nitely,  that  the  present  endowment  of  Knox  College  is  "  from  three 
to  four  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  amount,"  then  adds  as  follows : 
"  The  present  endowment  of  the  College  is  almost  entirely  THE  PRO- 
CEEDS of  the  gift  of  Hon.  Charles  Phelps,  a  Congregationalist."  And 
again  it  says:  "  We  are  next  called  to  consider  the  munificent  gift 
of  the  late  Hon.  Charles  Phelps,  who  gave  to  the  College  eighteen 
quarter-sections  of  land,  in  Illinois,  estimated  to  be  worth  at  the 
time  $30,000,  and  now  constituting  the  principal  part  of  the  College 
endowment  of  over  $300,000."  The  same  report  represents  the 
donation  as  having  been  made  to  the  College  at  a  time  when,  without 
this  "  timely  aid,"  the  College  must  have  exhausted  all  its  other 
property  in  mere  "  current  expenses,"  and  have  become  entirely 
bankrupt — (p.  26.)  If  the  committee  who  drew  up  that  report,  and 
if  the  Association  who  adopted  it,  knew  anything  of  the  matter, 
they  must  have  known  that  Mr.  Phelps'  donation  was  not  made  to  the 
College  until  in  1853,  after  it  had  become  comparatively  rich;  they 
must  have  known,  also,  that  the  College  has  received  from  that  dona- 
tion less  than  $25,000  in  money  ;  they  must  have  known,  also,  that, 
even  had  the  "proceeds "  been  large,  and  had  the  College  at  the 
same  time  been  poor  and  embarrassed,  yet  these  funds  of  Mr.  Phelps 
could,  in  no  manner,  have  relieved  the  College  and  have  saved  its 
other  property,  for  those  funds  were  given  for  the  specific  purpose 
of  endowing  new  professorships,  and  could  be  used  for  no  other  pur- 
pose ;  they  must  have  known  that  their  entire  statement  was  false. 
But  if  they  knew  nothing  of  the  matter,  with  certainty,  then  why 
publish  such  statements  as  "indubitable  facts?"  The  chairman  of 
the  committee  by  whom  the  above  report  was  drawn  up  has,  since 
its  publication,  announced  in  the  "  Congregational  Herald,"  that 
their  "  statement  that  the  present  funds  of  the  College  were  chiefly 
derived  from  the  gift  of  land  by  Judge  Phelps  is  not  correct."  Yet 
he  says  "  the  error  in  no  wise  affects  the  position  of  the  report;  it 
does  not  vary  in  any  case  the  general  result!"  Think  of  that,  dear 
reader,  an  error  of  over  $300,000  is  such  a  mere  trifle  that  "  it  in  no 
wise  effects  the  position  of  the  report !"  Is  not  that  a  sublime  self- 
confidence  !  The  report  is  to  be  taken  as  strictly  accurate  in  every 
other  respect,  notwithstanding  the  admission  of  so  grave  an  error 
in  respect  to  a  matter  wherein  it  was  so  easy  to  know  and  state  the 
exact  truth.  The  admission  of  so  serious  a  mistake  in  respect  to  so 
simple  a  matter  does  very  materially  "  affect  the  position  of  the 
report ;"  it  at  once  destroys  all  confidence  in  the  whole  report.  If 


LETTER   OF    SAMUEL    W.    FISHER.  45 

the  committee  did  not  know  the  truth  about  this  matter,  how  shall 
we  believe  that  they  knew  it  about  other  matters  ? 

The  denominational  relations  of  Judge  Phelps,  when  his  donation 
was  made,  will  appear  from  the  following  statements,  made  with 
direct  reference  to  this  point,  by  Rev.  Samuel  W.  Fisher,  D.  D., 
President  of  Hamilton  College,  New  York,  but  for  many  years  pre- 
vious to  last  year,  pastor  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  in  Cin- 
cinnati. 

"  HAMILTON  COLLEGE,  CLINTON,  Dec.  9,  1858. 

"  Judge  Phelps  came  to  Cincinnati  from  Vermont,  some  little 
time  before  I  came  to  that  city,  more  than  twelve  years  ago.  In 
Vermont  he  was  connected  with  a  Congregational  Church.  He 
began  to  attend  my  church  soon  after  I  took  charge  of  it.  He  pur- 
chased a  pew  in  it,  and  attended  there  until  the  day  of  his  death. 
I  attended  his  funeral.  His  widow  occupies  the  same  pew,  and  is 
still  an  attendant  there.  A  daughter  and  a  son-in-law,  now  residing 
with  their  mother,  united  with  my  church  on  profession  last  July, 
just  before  my  leaving.  Judge  Phelps  was  an  attendant  there  when 
he  made  the  donation  to  Knox  College.  I  do  not  think  Judge 
Phelps,  if  alive,  would  be  much  concerned  as  to  which  denomina- 
tion had  the  control  of  the  College.  His  mind  did  not  occupy  itself 
with  the  points  that  distinguish  them.  His  object  was  to  promote 
Christian  education  at  the  West.  Most  certainly  he  had  not,  nor 
has  his  widow,  or  any  of  his  children  with  whom  I  have  an  acquaint- 
ance, any  objection  to  having  the  College  under  Presbyterian  con- 
trol. As  members  of  a  Presbyterian  Church,  several  of  them  would 
naturally  prefer  it. 

SAMUEL  W.  FISHER." 

From  the  above  explicit  testimony  of  Dr.  Fisher,  it  is  evident 
that,  unless  it  be  wholly  impossible  to  fall  from  the  grace  of  Con- 
gregationalism after  having  once  so  much  as  professed  it,  Judge 
Phelps  had  totally  abandoned  his  connection  with  that  system  du- 
ring at  least  the  last  twelve  years  of  his  life.  This  will  appear  the 
more  certain  from  the  well  known  fact  that,  before  he  left  Vermont 
he  had  left  the  Congregational  Church  there,  from  some  dissatisfac- 
tion, and  had  attended  the  Baptist  Church.  He  had  been  some 
seven  years  a  constant  attendant  upon  and  a  supporter  of  a  Presby- 
terian Church  in  Cincinnati  when  he  made  his  donation  to  Knox 
College.  In  justice  to  himself  and  to  his  surviving  family,  there- 
fore, his  donation  is  to  be  credited  to  the  Presbyterian  body,  and 
not  to  the  Congregational.  The  reader  will  no  doubt  be  interested 
in  knowing  how  this  matter  concerning  Judge  Phelps  is  stated  in 
the  "Rights  of  Congregationalists."  That  report  says:  "Mr. 


46  KXOX    COLLEGE. 

Phelps  was  in  sentiment  a  Congregationalist,  though  not  a  church 
member.  By  reason  of  a  local  difficulty,  he  left  and  went  to  the 
Baptist  Church,  with  which  his  wife  subsequently  united,  and  in 
that  denomination  he  continued  to  worship  at  the  East,  and  after 
his  removal  to  the  West,  during  the  remainder  of  his  life"  Com- 
pare that  statement  with  President  Fisher's  declaration,  that  during 
the  last  twelve  years  of  his  life,  Judge  Phelps  attended  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  of  which  he,  Dr.  Fisher,  was  pastor. 

The  logic  of  the  report  is  not  less  remarkable  than  its  facts.  Its 
argument  is  this :  first,  that  Mr.  Phelps  was  never  a  member  of  any 
Congregational  Church — then,  that  while  in  Vermont,  he  gave  up  all 
attendance  upon  even  the  religious  services  of  that  body,  and  be- 
came an  attendant  upon  those  of  a  Baptist  Church,  with  which  his 
wife  united  as  a  member — and  then,  that  after  removing  to  the  West, 
and  "  during  the  remainder  of  his  life,"  he  had  no  further  connection 
with  the  Congregational  Church,  but  remained  with  the  Baptist — 
and  therefore  "  he  was  a  Congregationalist !" 

The  entire  amount  of  property  ever  owned  by  the  College,  has 
come  from  the, sources  above  enumerated,  except  a  few  hundred 
dollars  derived  from  uncertain  sources.  It  will  be  seen  that  no  ac- 
count is  made  of  money  received  for  tuition  in  the  various  depart- 
ments of  the  institution.  There  were  ninety -four  and  a  half  scholar- 
ships attached  to  the  first  lands  sold,  each  scholarship  entitling  the 
holder  to  send  a  pupil  for  instruction  for  the  period  of  twenty -five 
years,  to  either  the  Academy,  the  Preparatory  Department,  the 
Young  Ladies'  Seminary,  or  the  College.  These  scholarships,  when 
not  used  by  the  owners,  have  commonly  been  sold  to  students  from 
year  to  year,  at  a  rate  a  little  less  than  the  price  of  tuition  in  the 
several  departments  of  the  College.  Hence  very  little  money  has 
ever  been  received  from  students.  The  Academy,  from  which 
nearly  all  the  money  paid  for  tuition  is  received,  has  been  for  several 
years  an  expense  to  the  College  Board,  although  it  has  had  from  two 
hundred  to  three  hundred  students  each  year. 

The  Academy  and  the  Preparatory  Department  of  the  College, 
were  opened  in  1838.  The  first  class  entered  the  College  in  1841. 
A  "Female  Collegiate  Department,"  which  is  a  fully  organized 
Seminary  for  young  ladies,  having  its  own  separate  corps  of  instruc- 
tors, and  its  own  buildings,  has  been  in  successful  operation  for 
several  years.  All  these  departments  are  under  the  control  of  the 
College  Board,  and  all  alike  depend  upon  the  same  general  funds 


VALUE   OF   DONATIONS.  4:7 

for  their  support.  For  the  management  of  its  property — for  insu- 
rance— for  taxes,  which  until  recently  had  to  be  paid — for  loss  on 
buildings  destroyed  by  fire,  and  by  wear  of  time — for  agents — for 
teachers — for  lands  donated  to  churches  and  railroad  companies — 
for  village  lots  thrown  open  to  the  public  as  a  park,  and  not  included  in 
the  lands  reported  by  the  treasurer,  as  a  part  of  present  property — for 
all  such  expenses,  the  College  has  paid  out,  lost  or  donated,  as  esti- 
mated by  the  treasurer — by  the  former  agents — and  by  several  trus- 
tees, an  amount  considerably  more  than  $200,000.  That  this  esti- 
mate is  very  much  too  small,  can  be  seen  from  the  fact  that  during 
the  last  four  years  alone,  the  cost  of  instruction  and  the  care  of 
buildings,  excluding  all  other  expenses,  has  been  about  $60,000. 

The  last  annual  report  of  the  Treasurer  states  the  present  value  of 
the  College  property,  including  money,  lands  and  buildings,  at 
$366,095.15.  This  sum  includes  $26,272.15,  the  present  value  of 
the  Phelps  Fund,  which  amount,  if  deducted  from  the  former,  will 
leave  $339,823. 

The  reader  is  now  in  possession  of  all  the  facts  relating  to  the 
money  and  lands  ever  donated  to  the  College.  That  the  whole 
matter  may  be  taken  in  at  a  single  view,  the  several  facts  above 
given  are  here  presented  in  a  brief 

RECAPITULATION. 

Donated  by  Subscribers  in  money $8,000  00 

"        through  Messrs.  Kellogg  and  Gale..  6,00000 

"        by  J.  P.  Williston 8,000  00 

"         by  College  Society 5,864  88 

"        by  Charles  Phelps,  present  value. ..  26,272  15 

Other  College  property,  at  present  time 339,823  00 

Ain't  expended,  donated,  lost  etc.,  from  1836,  200,000  00 

Total $593,960  03 

It  thus  appears  that  the  entire  value  of  all  the  property  ever  owned 
by  the  College  is  almost  six  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  several 
donations  made  by  all  parties  who  were  not  Subscribers,  it  will  be 
seen,  amount  to  $46,137.03.  This  sum  deducted  from  the  total  amount 
ever  owned  by  the  College,  leaves  $547,823.  And  this  sum  of  FIVE 

HUNDRED  AND  FORTY-SEVEN  THOUSAND,  EIGHT  HUNDRED  AND  TWEN- 
TY-THREE DOLLARS,  is  the  product  of  that  donation  of  land  and 
money  made  to  the  College  by  the  men  who  founded  it.  All  the  other 
donations,  except  that  made  by  Mr.  Phelps,  which  has  only  become 


48  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

available  within  the  last  three  or  four  years,  were  exhausted  imme- 
diately in  current  expenses.  The  endowment  of  the  College  has  come 
wholly  from  the  donation  made  by  the  Subscribers  and  by  Mr.  Phelps. 
Let  the  statement  be  repeated  here,  that  of  almost  six  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  all  but  about  forty-six  thousand  came  from  the 
donation  made  by  the  founders  of  the  College.  The  men  who  gave 
that  property  were  all  Presbyterians  but  one,  who  was  a  Congrega- 
tionalist.  The  money  paid  by  that  one,  was  less  than  one-thirtieth 
of  the  whole  amount  paid  by  the  Subscribers,  in  order  to  found  and 
endow  the  College.  One-thirtieth  of  the  entire  proceeds  of  the 
original  donation,  $547,823,  amounts  to  $18,260.77,  which  is  to  be 
credited  to  Congregationalists ;  whUe  the  balance,  amounting  to 
$529,562.23,  is  to  be  credited  to  Presbyterians. 

By  crediting  each  denomination  with  the  amount  of  all  the  dona- 
tions made  by  parties  connected  with  it,  we  shall  be  able  to  see  how 
much  has  been  given  by  Congregationalists  and  how  much  by 
Presbyterians. 

CONGREGATIONAL   DONATIONS. 

By  one  Subscriber,  proceeds  of  lands $18,260  77 

"     J.  P.  Williston 8,00000 

"     College  Society,  one  half 2,932  44 


Total  by  Congregationalists $29,193  21 

PRESBYTERIAN    DONATIONS. 

By  Subscribers $529,562  23 

"  Messrs.  Kellogg  and  Gale,  as  above 6,000  00 

"  College  Society,  one  half 2,932  44 

"  Charles  Phelps 26,272  15 


Total  by  Presbyterians $564,766  82 

Thus  it  is  seen  the  College  has  received  from  Congregational 
sources,  from  the  time  it  was  founded,  until  now,  property  equal  in 
value  to  twenty-nine  thousand,  one  hundred  and  ninety-three  dol- 
lars and  twenty-one  cents.  During  the  same  time,  it  has  received 
from  Presbyterian  sources,  property  equal  to  five  hundred  and  sixty- 
four  thousand,  seven  hundred  and  sixty-six  dollars  and  eighty-two 
cents.  These  facts  will  show  the  "  Rights  of  Congregationalists  in 
Knox  College."  Yet  the  reader  must  remember  the  whole  Plan 
originated  with  Presbyterians.  It  was  their  wisdom  and  their 
energy,  that  secured  the  success  of  that  Plan.  They  originated 
that  Plan  with  no  purpose  or  thought  of  inviting  other  denomina- 


KNOX  COLLEGP:.  49 

tions  to  become  partners  with  them  in  it.  They  did  intend  to  build 
up  a  College  for  the  wants  of  the  West,  and  not  of  a  denomination, 
but  they  did  not  intend  to  put  the  control  of  that  College  into  any 
other  hands  than  Presbyterians.  They  called  no  convention 
of  different  denominations  to  consult  about  the  work,  and  to  take 
part  with  them  in  its  accomplishment.  There  was  no  recognized 
union  of  denominations  in  founding  Knox  College.  It  was  a  private 
enterprise,  by  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  One  Congre- 
gationalist  joined  with  them  for  his  own  personal  benefit ;  but,  his 
connection  did  not  vary  the  character  of  the  Plan  in  any  degree. 
He  made  no  stipulations  for  himself  as  a  Congregationalist.  Had 
he  proposed  any  they  would  have  been  peremptorily  rejected.  The 
Plan  was  developed, — the  work  was  in  progress  when  he  united 
in  it.  He  did  his  part  worthily  among  the  founders  of  the  College, 
and  he  shall  ever  receive  his  full  share  of  the  credit  which  belongs 
to  those  founders.  But  in  the  inception  and  shaping  of  that  Plan, 
he  had  no  part.  When  received  as  a  Subscriber,  it  was  with  no 
condition,  express  or  implied,  that  through  him  was  to  be  trans- 
mitted to  the  whole  Congregational  body,  for  all  time  to  come,  a 
perfect  right  of  inheritance  and  control  in  the  College.  Such  a 
right  he  never  claimed  ;  such  a  right  never  was  granted.  Indeed, 
it  probably  was  not  known  to  more  than  one  of  the  other  Subscri- 
bers, that  Mr.  Simmons  was  a  Congregationalist  when  the  College 
was  founded.  This  appears  from  the  testimony  of  the  founders 
given  below.  While  it  is  true  that  as  a  question  of  right,  the 
Congregationalists  had  no  partnership  in  the  College,  or  at  most, 
only  a  share  equal  to  one-thirtieth  of  the  whole,  it  is  nevertheless 
true  that  the  College  has  been,  and  ever  will  be  conducted  on  most 
liberal  principles  toward  them.  They  have  always  been  generously 
represented  in  the  Board  and  in  the  Faculty.  They  have  more 
members  now  among  the  Trustees,  than  Presbyterians  have  ;  and 
they  constitute  a  majority  of  the  College  Faculty.  The  Presbyterian 
members  of  the  Board  have  voted  unanimously  for  every  Congre- 
gationalist in  the  Faculty.  They  have  unanimously  elected  Con- 
gregationalists as  Trustees.  They  did  not  elect  as  many  of  that 
denomination  as  are  now  found  in  the  Board.  Some  of  those  who 
were  selected  from  the  Ministry  and  Eldership  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  were  appointed  to  the  Board  because  they  were  Pres- 
byterians, as  they  professed,  have  since  become  the  most  decided 
Congregationalists.  In  this  way  has  the  present  strength  of  Con- 
gregationalists in  the  College  Board  been  secured. 
4 


50  KNOX    COLLEGE. 

TESTIMONY  OF  THE  FOUNDERS. 

In  determining  the  denominational  relations  of  the  founders  of 
the  College,  and  the  question  to  whom  its  control,  both  legally  and 
morally  belongs,  the  public  can  have  nothing  more  reliable  than  the 
testimony  of  those  founders  themselves.  The  founders  of  a  College 
have  a  right,  both  in  law  and  equity,  to  determine  into  whose  hands 
it  shah1  be  placed.  They  are  the  most  competent  witnesses  to  settle 
a  controversy  as  to  what  their  own  intentions  were.  They  know 
with  certainty  to  what  body  of  Christians,  if  to  any,  they  belonged ; 
and  hence  their  statements  on  the  point  must  settle  the  question. 
A  large  collection  of  letters  and  certificates  has  been  received  from 
the  founders  of  Knox  College,  respecting  these  questions.  The 
testimony  is  uniform  and  unhesitating,  that  they  were,  with  but 
one  exception,  Presbyterians;  and  most  of  them  did  not  know  of 
even  that  one  exception.  They  declare  explicitly,  that  they  had 
no  thought  of  transmitting  the  control  of  the  College  to  any  others 
than  Presbyterians.  The  recent  attempt  to  make  it  appear  that 
these  men,  even  if  nominally  Presbyterians,  were  so  only  by 
connection  with  "  Plan-of-Union "  Churches,  and  were  in  fact 
Congregationalists,  will  be  set  at  rest  by  the  men  themselves. 
Moreover,  as  the  list  of  the  founders  will  show,  a  large  number  of 
them  were  Elders  of  churches,  and  every  one  who  knows  what  a 
"  Plan-of-Union  "  Church  is,  knows  that  one  of  its  essential  features 
is  that  it  has  no  Elders. 

Mr.  Blanchard,  who  always  counts  largely  upon  either  the 
ignorance  or  the  credulity  of  the  public,  in  his  statements,  has  ven- 
tured so  far  as  to  speak,  in  a  printed  letter  of  his,  two  years  ago,  of 
a  "Plan-of-Union  Presbyterian,  a  ruling  Elder"  No  man  knew 
better  than  he  that  "Plan-of-Union"  Churches  had  no  "ruling 
Elders ; "  and  he  knew  also,  that  the  man  of  whom  he  spoke,  Mr. 
N.  West,  was  a  "ruling  Elder"  in  that  church  which  he  called 
"  Plan-of-Union,"  and  was  moreover  a  decided  Presbyterian. 

In  addition  to  the  Elders,  the  list  of  founders  shows  a  large  num- 
ber of  Presbyterian  ministers,  and  these  will  hardly  be  claimed  as 
Congregationalists,  even  by  those  who  are  able  to  believe  in  "  Plan- 
of-Union  ruling  Elders."  It  is  worthy  of  remark  in  this  connection, 
that  the  "  Rights  of  Congregationalists "  uniformly  assumes  that 
a  member  of  a  Plan-of-Union  Church  is  ipso  facto,  not  a  Presby- 
terian, and  is  a  Congregationalist. 


TESTIMONY   OF   FOUNDERS.  51 

The  first  letter  given  below,  from  the  founders  of  the  College,  is 
very  properly  that  of  Rev.  George  W.  Gale,  D.  D.,  who  originated 
the  Plan,  and  whose  efforts  were  the  principal  means  of  carrying  it 
into  successful  operation. 

LETTER  OF  REV.  G.  W.  GALE,  D.  D. 

"  I  was  born  in  the  State  of  New  York,  and  graduated  at  Union 
College.  I  studied  for  the  Ministry  in  Princeton  Theological  Semi- 
nary, was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  Presbytery  of  Hudson,  and 
was  ordained  by  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Lawrence,  now  Watertown. 
While  I  have  always  cherished  feelings  of  great  kindness  and 
brotherly  love  toward  Christians  of  other  denominations,  and  have 
rejoiced  in  whatever  contributed  to  their  true  prosperity,  yet  in  all 
my  preferences,  and  in  all  my  professions,  I  have  always  been  a 
Presbyterian.  While  I  have  admired  many  things  in  the  history  of 
Congregationalism,  yet  my  clearest  convictions  have  ever  been, 
that  the  apostolic  church  was  not  modelled  after  that  fashion. 

The  Plan  for  founding  Knox  College  originated  with  me.  I  spent 
much  time  and  money  in  maturing  the  Plan  and  in  enlisting  my 
friends  in  it.  The  great  object  of  my  life,  since  the  College  has 
been  founded,  has  been  to  make  it  an  institution  second  to  no  other 
in  its  means  of  furnishing  a  thorough  education  to  its  students,  and 
one  which  should  be  worthy  of  the  most  liberal  patronage  of  the 
public.  It  was  never  my  design  to  found  a  sectarian  College.  It 
was  to  be  a  College  open  to  all  the  youth  of  our  land,  without  any 
reference  to  their  relations  to  Christian  denominations.  But  while 
the  College  was  founded  for  all  denominations,  it  was  not  founded 
by  all.  It  was  exclusively  a  Presbyterian  enterprise.  It  was  always 
so  understood  among  all  its  founders.  The  Subscribers  to  my  Plan, 
by  whom  the  College  was  founded,  were  all  secured  by  myself,  and 
I  was  well  acquainted  with  their  Church  relations.  They  were  all 
decided  Presbyterians  except  Mr.  Simmons,  who  was  a  Congrega- 
tionalist.  A  large  number  of  them  were  ministers  and  elders  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  almost  all  were  my  personal  friends.  Mr. 
Simmons  heard  of  our  Plan  and  became  a  Subscriber,  but  with  no 
purpose,  on  that  account,  of  claiming  any  share  in  the  control  of 
the  College  as  a  Congregation alist.  We  never  expected  to  yield  the 
College  to  any  others  than  those  who  should  represent  our  own 
opinions  as  Presbyterians.  If  others  were  invited  to  share  in  that 


52  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

control,  it  was  only  as  a  matter  of  comity,  and  for  the  sake  of  the 
prosperity  of  the  College,  and  not  from  any  original  right  which 
they  had.  The  intention  of  the  founders  in  respect  to  the  future 
control  of  the  College  is  clearly  evinced  by  their  action  in  appoint- 
ing the  Board  of  "  Prairie  College,"  and  afterward  in  appointing 
the  corporate  Board.  The  men  to  whom  they  committed  their  Col- 
lege in  both  Boards  were  almost  all  Presbyterians.  As  the  coopera- 
tion of  others  was  desirable,  they  elected,  during  the  early  years 
of  the  College,  some  from  among  the  Episcopal,  the  Congregational, 
and  the  Old  School  Presbyterian  Churches.  But  their  election  did 
not  result  from  any  right  those  denominations  had  to  be  represented 
in  the  College  Board.  And  the  number  of  New  School  Presbyteri- 
ans in  the  Board  greatly  preponderated  over  all  other  parties  united, 
as  it  was  intended  they  should.  This  continued  to  be  the  case  for 
years,  until  after  Mr.  Blanchard  became  President,  when  he  suc- 
ceeded in  bringing  about  a  different  state  of  things  in  the  Board. 
The  change  he  aimed  at  could  never  have  been  secured  except  from 
a  change  of  sentiments  on  the  part  of  some  who  were  in  the  Board. 
Several  trustees,  who  were  ministers  or  elders  in  Presbyterian 
Churches  when  elected,  and  who  were  elected  because  they  were 
Presbyterians,  have  since  become  very  decided  Congregationalists. 
They  united  with  others  who  were  Congregationalists  when  ap- 
pointed, and  under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Blanchard,  have  been 
laboring  for  the  past  few  years  to  secure  to  Congregationalists  a 
majority  over  all  others  in  the  Board,  and  thus  to  wrest  the  College 
from  its  founders.  Mr.  Blanchard  was  elected  President  of  the 
College  in  1845.  At  the  time  our  thoughts  were  directed  to  him  for 
this  appointment,  he  was  a  Presbyterian  minister  of  a  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Cincinnati.  Had  we  supposed  then  that  he  would  be- 
come a  Congregationalist  when  elected,  he  would  never  have  been 
proposed  as  a  candidate.  Our  former  President,  Rev.  H.  H.  Kel- 
logg, had  been  a  Presbyterian.  Mr.  Blanchard,  just  before  his  elec- 
tion, stated  to  us  that  if  he  became  our  President,  he  would  prefer 
to  connect  with  an  Association  of  Congregationalists,  but  at  the  same 
time  he  assured  us  that  this  was  merely  a  matter  of  personal  prefer- 
ence, and  that  he  had  no  zeal  for  Congregationalism.  This  an- 
nouncement gave  many  of  us  anxiety  lest  we  should  have  trouble 
for  the  future,  but  our  negotiations  with  him  had  then  gone  so  far 
that  it  was  thought  best  to  complete  them,  and  trust  our  peace  to 
his  honor.  We  soon  found  that  we  had  introduced  into  the  College 


TESTIMONY    OF   FOUNDERS.  53 

and  into  the  colony  a  man  of  unbounded  hostility  to  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  Soon  after  he  came  here  he  stated  that  there  ought 
to  be  only  two  denominations  in  the  State — the  Old  School  Presby- 
terians, and  the  Congregationalists.  He  has  labored  with  all  dili- 
gence to  exterminate  the  Church  which  he  has  forsaken,  and  to  build 
up  the  Congregational  Church  on  its  ruins.  It  was  my  misfortune 
to  occupy  a  position  on  this  ground  which  placed  me  directly  in  the 
way  of  his  projects.  The  College  had  been  founded  by  Presby- 
terians. The  colony  here  had  been  planted  by  them.  The  Church 
first  organized  in  the  place,  and  which  was  the  only  one  here  for 
many  years,  had  been  organized  purely  Presbyterian.  The  region 
of  country  about,  for  a  circuit  of  fifty  miles,  contained  many  Presby- 
terian Churches,  and  not  one  Congregational,  when  we  came  here. 
The  whole  region  was  not  so  much  as  nominally  occupied  by  an  Asso- 
ciation at  that  time.  Congregationalism  was  then  hardly  known  in 
this  part  of  Illinois.  In  the  light  of  such  facts,  I  did  not  feel  it  my 
duty  to  allow  Mr.  Blanchard  to  overturn  all  this  work  with  no  better 
object  than  that  of  the  mere  propagandist.  I  could  not  suffer  the  work 
of  my  own  hands  and  that  of  my  friends  to  be  destroyed  without  at 
least  a  remonstrance.  My  opposition  to  Mr.  Blanchard  for  these 
causes  brought  upon  me  a  storm  of  wrath  seldom  equalled  for  vio- 
lence, and  which  has  raged  against  me  for  the  last  ten  years.  In 
1848,  a  little  more  than  two  years  after  he  became  President,  he 
addressed  to  me  a  letter,  in  which  he  distinctly  presented  to  me  this 
alternative,  either  to  yield  the  Presbyterian  interests  here  to  Con- 
gregationalists, and  secure  their  lasting  gratitude  for  so  doing, 
or  else,  by  maintaining  them,  to  meet  with  hostility  and  all  its  con- 
sequences. At  that  time  there  was  in  Galesburg  a  paper  edited 
and  published  by  a  Presbyterian  minister.  Congregationalists  were 
advised  not  to  give  it  their  support  unless  the  editor  would  leave 
his  Presbytery  and  join  the  Association.  Those  of  them  who  were 
connected  with  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  were  advised,  also, 
not  to  unite  in  calling  or  supporting  a  minister  for  that  Church,  unless 
the  Presbyterian  members,  who  were  a  large  majority,  would  con- 
sent to  settle  a  Congregationalist.  The  letter  of  Mr.  Blanchard  pro- 
posed these  measures  for  my  acceptance,  and  also  the  dissolution  of 
Knox  Presbytery,  as  the  only  grounds  on  which  I  could  be  allowed 
to  live  in  peace.  I  quote  a  few  sentences  from  that  letter,  to  con- 
firm my  statements.  The  italics  were  made  by  Mr.  Blanchard: 


54  KNOX    COLLEGE. 

'Dec.  11,  1848.  To  Prof.  Gale— Dear  Brother:  *  *  *  Now 
you  can  take  either  one  of  three  courses,  in  view  of  facts  as  they 
exist:  1st.  You  can  quietly  allow  F — ,  (the  Presbyterian  editor)  to 
join  Association,  and  the  Congregationalists  to  adopt  his  paper — 
allow  a  Congregational  pastor  to  settle  in  this  Church — our  funds  to 
Home  Missions  to  go  under  Kirby's  direction,  to  whose  field  we 
belong — merge  Knox  Presbytery  in  Peoria,  or  Schuyler,  or  one 
north — act  as  our  daysman  between  us  and  Presbyterianism,  in 
Chicago,  and  throughout  the  West  and  East — and  make  yourself, 
though  not  necessary  to  our  existence  as  a  College,  yet  necessary  to 
our  healthy,  and  in  the  highest  degree,  successful  existence ;  or, 
2nd.  You  can  look  on  with  comparative  indifference  ;  or,  3rd.  You 
can  prevent  brother  F —  joining  Association,  and,  (for  in  reason  and 
nature  it  is  the  same  thing,)  prevent  Congregational  ministers  adopt- 
ing his  paper.  You  can  probably  prevent  for  a  time  the  peaceful 
settlement  of  a  Congregational  minister  in  this  place.  You  can 
keep  Knox  Presbytery  alive  in  its  distinct  existence.  *  *  *  I 
will  suppose  you  to  take  the  first  or  last  of  the  above  courses.  If 
the  first,  in  my  humble  judgment  the  following  would  be  the  result, 
to  wit:  You  would  be  honored  and  courted  as  the  representative 
of  Presbyterianism,  the  good  will  of  which  is  necessary  to  us,  in- 
stead of  being  dreaded  as  the  weakener  of  our  home  operations, 
newspaper,  missions,  etc.  You  would  give  the  churches  in  this 
community  peace.  You  would  remove  out  of  the  way  the  only  ob- 
stacle to  our  having  a  paper  here  which  would  make  us  respected  at 
home  and  abroad.  [The  reader  will  bear  in  mind  that  this  happy 
result  would  be  secured,  not  by  a  new  editor,  but  by  a  mere  change, 
by  the  former  editor,  from  Presbytery  to  Association. — GALE.]  You 
will  remove  the  only  obstacle  to  our  evangelical  labors  in  this 
region.  *  *  You  would  increase  your  own  influence,  however 
great  it  may  now  be  in  the  Churches  of  Central  Association,  and 
make  yourself  courted  as  the  representative  of  Presbyterianism 
abroad,  while  you  would  not  be  dreaded  as  the  representative  of  a 
disturbing  force  in  our  midst.  You  would  have,  in  short,  all  the 
advantages,  from  your  principles,  to  yourself  personally,  which  you 
can  possibly  have  now,  without  that  friction,  which,  by  irritating  the 
animal  passions  of  men  in  the  things  of  their  religion,  makes  them 
desperate,  and  prone  to  every  sort  of  extreme. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  you  resolve  to  keep  up  the  Presbyterian 


TESTIMONY   OF   FOUNDERS.  55 

system  in  conjunction  with  the  others,  *  *  all  this  is  not  going 
to  take  place  without  engendering  ill  blood,  and  crimination  among 
our  people.  j.  BLANCHARD.' 

This  proposition  will,  I  trust,  satisfy  those  who  have  heretofore 
doubted  whether  Mr.  Blanchard  ever  openly  and  purposely  made 
war  upon  Presbyterianism  in  this  region.  Here  we  have  his  own 
words.  I  did  not,  of  course,  feel  disposed  to  yield  long  established 
and  valuable  rights,  to  one  who  was  seeking  with  hostile  efforts,  to 
introduce  a  state  of  things  among  us,  not  known  at  the  beginning. 
I  refused  to  accept  the  very  flattering  offers  made  me — rejected  the 
proffer  of  '  influence  in  the  churches  of  Central  Association ' — did 
not  choose  to  occupy  the  position  of  '  representative  of  Presbyte- 
rianism abroad]  when  all  should  be  swept  away  at  home — and, 
although  I  knew  that,  to  Mr.  Blanchard,  our  system  was  indeed  '  a 
disturbing  force,'  yet  I  preferred  to  adhere  to  it,  knowing  that  I 
was  only  maintaining  what  had  been  planted  here  by  good  men,  and 
had  been  nurtured  with  many  prayers.  My  steady  adherence  to 
Presbyterianism  resulted,  as  Mr.  Blanchard  warned  me  it  would, 

•  in  irritating  the  animal  passions '  of  himself  and  his  followers, 

*  in  the  things  of  their  religion ' — and  this  irritation,  I  have  found 
to  my  cost,  has  made  them  all,  and  Mr.  Blanchard  in  particular, 
'  desperate,  and  prone  to  every  sort  of  extreme.'' 

Justice  to  Knox  College,  as  well  as  to  myself,  has  seemed  to  de- 
mand this  exposure  of  the  true  cause  of  all  the  wrath  with  which 
Mr.  Blanchard  has  pursued  me  for  so  many  years.  It  was  because 
I  would  not  suffer  him,  without  opposition,  to  exterminate  from  this 
ground  the  long  established  interests  of  those  by  whom  the  College 
had  been  founded — the  colony  planted — and  this  whole  region  made 
prosperous  and  attractive. 

The  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Galesburg  was  organized  by 
myself,  and  by  Bro.  Noel,  a  committee  of  the  Presbytery  of  Schuy- 
ler  appointed  for  that  purpose.  It  was  organized  as  a  purely  Pres- 
byterian Church,  and  continued  such  for  about  eight  years.  There 
was  not,  during  those  early  years,  the  slightest  departure  from  strict 
Presbyterianism  in  its  polity  or  in  its  administration.  When  the 
Church  was  formed  by  direction  of  the  Presbytery  of  Schuyler,  a 
majority  of  that  Presbytery  were  Old  School  men,  and  would  not 
have  organized  and  received  into  its  connection  a  church  that  was 
not  strictly  Presbyterian.  The  only  thing  brought  forward  now,  as 


56  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

evidence  that  the  Church  was  not  strictly  Presbyterian  at  first,  is 
the  fact  that  sometimes  the  members  remained  after  preparatory 
lectures,  to  witness  the  examination  of  candidates  for  membership 
by  the  Session,  and  were  occasionally  asked  to  express  their  opinion 
of  the  examination  by  vote.  This  practice  I  introduced  myself,  as 
I  had  been  accustomed  to  it  in  New  York;  and  it  was  never  pro- 
posed as  any  part  of  Congregationalism.  When  the  Second  Pres- 
byterian Church  was  organized  by  me  in  1851,  which  was  done  for 
the  express  purpose  of  having  a  strictly  Presbyterian  Church,  after 
the  First  Church  had  ceased  to  be  such,  I  introduced  the  same  prac- 
tice, which  certainly  would  not  have  been  followed  by  that  Church, 
as  it  was  for  a  year  or  two,  had  it  been  supposed  that  it  was  in  any 
manner  an  abandonment  of  strict  Presbyterianism,  and  a  concession 
to  Congregationalism.  The  practice  was  adopted  by  me  in  New 
York,  in  place  of  the  common  method  of  '  propounding '  members 
to  the  Church.  It  also  gave  the  Church  an  opportunity  of  acquaint- 
ing themselves  fully  with  the  Christian  experience  of  those  received 
into  the  Church.  As  I  was  pastor  of  the  First  Church  in  Galesburg 
for  several  years  after  its  organization,  I  speak  from  personal  knowl- 
edge, when  I  declare  that  from  1837  until  1845  it  was  strictly  a 
Presbyterian  Church.  In  1845  a  'compromise'  form  of  govern- 
ment was  adopted,  by  which,  while  Presbyterian  members  retained 
all  their  rights,  Congregational  members  received  some  privileges 
not  before  granted  them.  This  was  done  as  a  concession  on  the  part 
of  the  Church  to  its  Congregational  members,  who  were  becoming 
somewhat  numerous.  Their  method  of  gaining  that  concession  was 
not  honorable  to  their  leaders.  The  Church  had  commenced  build- 
ing a  house  of  worship.  Rev.  L.  H.  Parker,  and  some  others,  induced 
the  Congregation alists  to  refuse  to  pay  their  subscriptions  and  taxes 
for  the  house,  unless  the  Presbyterians  would  consent  to  modify  the 
government  of  the  Church.  By  this  measure  they  secured  the 
'  Compromise.'  Having  thus  gained  an  '  entering  wedge,'  they 
have  driven  it  perseveringly  imtil  the  Church  for  several  years  past 
has  been  totally  separated  from  all  connection  with  the  Presbyterian 
body.  They,  however,  continue  in  possession  of  the  property  do- 
nated by  the  Presbyterian  founders  of  the  College  to  '  the  Presby- 
terian Society '  of  Galesburg.  To  do  this,  they  call  themselves  a 
'  Congregational  Church,'  by  the  name  of  '  The  First  Church  of 
Christ,'  and  '  The  First  Presbyterian  Society.'  It  is  a  Congrega- 
tional Church  and  a  Presbyterian  Society,  if  any  one  knows  how 


TESTIMONY   OF   FOUNDERS.  57 

such  a  conglomerate  is  possible.  The  very  fact  that  the  Church  is 
willing,  for  the  sake  of  its  property,  to  occupy  such  a  position,  which 
would  be  pronounced  dishonorable,  if  not  fraudulent,  in  any  merely 
secular  corporation  or  society,  shows  the  character  of  the  moulding 
spirits,  the  master  minds,  by  whom  that  Church  has  so  long  been 
educated  and  controlled. 

Since  the  removal  of  Mr.  Blanchard  from  the  Presidency  of  the 
College,  the  Congregationalists  remain  more  numerous  than  Presby- 
terians in  the  Board.  But  with  this  they  are  not  satisfied.  They  de- 
sire to  become  a  majority  over  all  others — and  because  disappointed 
in  this,  they  have  waged  an  incessant  war  upon  the  College  during  the 
last  two  years.  If  they  cannot  rule,  they  seem  determined  to  ruin. 
That  the  Lord  will  overrule  all  this  storm,  and  cause  even  'the 
wrath  of  man  to  praise  Him,'  and  to  result  in  the  future  increased 
prosperity  of  the  College,  I  have  no  doubt.  The  foundations  of 
Knox  College  are  embedded  in  too  many  prayers,  and  fervent  de- 
sires to  advance  the  cause  of  intelligence  and  pure  religion,  to  be 
overturned  by  the  ambition  and  sectarianism  of  such  men  as  Mr. 
Blanchard  and  his  followers.  Q  -m-  QALE 

GALESBURR,  Dec.,  1859." 

The  next  letter  is  from  Mr.  Silvanus  Ferris,  to  whom  the  College 
is  more  indebted,  for  its  success  and  present  wealth,  than  to  any 
other  person  except  Mr.  Gale.  The  property  of  the  College  was 
managed  for  a  great  many  years  by  Mr.  Ferris,  as  agent,  and  it  is 
the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  men  in  Galesburg  best  able  to  judge 
of  the  matter,  that  to  his  prudence  and  foresight  the  present  wealth 
of  the  College  is  mainly  due. 

LETTER  OF  S.  FERRIS. 

"I  was  born  in  the  year  1773,  in  the  State  of  Connecticut,  upon 
the  borders  of  New  York.  When  I  was  six  years  of  age,  my  father 
removed  his  family  into  New  York,  in  which  State  I  continued  to 
live  until  the  year  1838,  when  I  removed  to  Galesburg,  in  Illinois, 
where  I  have  resided  ever  since.  I  was  reared  from  childhood  in 
the  doctrines  and  under  the  influences  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
It  was  not  until  I  had  attained  the  age  of  manhood  that  I  made  a 
public  profession  of  religion.  I  was  then  living  in  the  town  of  Nor- 
way, New  York.  The  Church  with  which  I  first  united  was  in  connec- 
tion with  Presbytery,  according  to  the  well-known  '  Plan-of-Union.' 


58  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

By  this  '  Plan,'  Presbyterians  and  Congregationalists  were  able  to 
unite  in  the  same  church  without  any  relinquishment,  on  the  part  of 
either,  of  their  denominational  preferences.  I  would  have  preferred 
to  unite  with  a  purely  Presbyterian  Church,  had  there  been  one  in 
the  place.  I  often  attended  the  meetings  of  Presbytery,  as  a  Dele- 
gate from  the  Church,  while  I  was  one  of  its  members. 

I  knew  nothing  of  Congregational  Associations  while  connected 
with  this  Church  in  Norway.  The  Church  had  no  relations  with 
any  other  body  than  the  Presbytery. 

After  several  years  I  removed  to  the  town  of  Russia,  New  York, 
and  there  found  a  fully  organized  Presbyterian  Church,  with  which 
I  united,  and  in  whose  connection  I  remained  several  years,  until 
my  removal  to  Illinois. 

When  I  came  with  my  family  to  Galesburg,  I  joined  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  which  had  just  before  been  organized  in  that  place. 
The  Church  was  known  as  a  regular,  fully  constituted  Presbyterian 
Church  at  that  time.  I  never  heard,  until  several  years  afterward, 
any  claims  advanced  in  the  Church,  in  behalf  of  Congregationalists. 
In  1845,  the  Constitution  of  the  Church  was  modified,  by  adopting 
what  is  called  the  '  Compromise,'  whereb'y  Congregationalists  were 
allowed  some  privileges  they  had  never  enjoyed  before.  Until  the 
time  of  the  '  Compromise,'  the  Church  was,  in  the  full  sense,  Pres- 
byterian. In  allowing  to  Congregationalists,  as  such,  some  privi- 
leges, it  was  not  intended  to  take  from  Presbyterians  any  of  their 
own.  The  Church  retained  its  elders,  and  its  connection  with  Pres- 
bytery, as  before.  In  a  few  years,  however,  it  was  found  that 
Congregational  practices  were  undermining  the  original  polity  of 
the  Church,  and  that  Mr.  Blanchard  and  others  were  determined  to 
carry  this  on  until  the  Church  should  lose  all  the  distinct  features  of 
Presbyterianism.  Finding  that  this  result  could  not  be  prevented, 
without  much  confusion  and  strife  in  the  Church,  I  proposed  to  the 
leading  Presbyterian  members  of  the  Church  a  peaceable  separation 
on  our  part  from  the  others,  and  the  organization  of  another  fully 
Presbyterian  Church.  This  was  done  in  the  year  1851,  when  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  Galesburg  was  formed. 

These  facts  are  mentioned  by  me,  that  it  may  be  known  how 
wholly  unfounded  is  the  statement,  which  has  of  late  been  given  to 
the  public,  that  I  was  formerly  a  Congregationalist.  I  have  never, 
in  sentiment  or  in  profession,  been  a  Congregationalist  in  my  whole 
life. 


TESTIMONY    OF   FOUNDERS.  59 

I  was  well  acquainted  with  the  Rev.  Geo.  "W.  Gale  at  the  time 
he  originated  the  Plan  whereby  Knox  College  was  founded  and  en- 
dowed. He  was  a  relative  of  my  wife,  and  for  many  years  had  been 
a  warm  friend  of  mine.  The  whole  plan  of  the  enterprise  originated 
with  him,  as  I  know  perfectly  well.  In  1835,  he  stated  his  plan'  to 
me,  and  from  that  time  I  engaged  heartily  with  him  in  it,  giving  to 
it  my  time,  and  money,  and  personal  efforts,  as  far  as  they  were  re- 
quired. Mr.  Gale  was  a  Presbyterian.  Rev.  Mr.  Waters,  Rev.  Mr. 
Kellogg,  and  others,  who  engaged  in  the  enterprise,  were  also  Pres- 
byterians. At  the  time  the  land  was  bought  and  the  College  found- 
ed, every  man  who  had  subscribed  money  to  aid  in  the  work  was, 
so  far  as  I  knew,  a  Presbyterian.  I  did  not,  at  that  time,  know  that 
there  was  even  one  Congregationalist  among  them  all.  I  was  one 
of  the  committee  who  purchased  the  lands.  At  Detroit,  Mr.  Thomas 
Simmons  joined  the  rest  of  the  committee,  and  traveled  with  us  to 
Knox  county.  But  not  until  long  after  that  time  did  I  know  that 
he  was  a  Congregationalist.  It  was  well  understood,  by  all  who 
knew  anything  about  it,  that  this  was  a  Presbyterian  enterprise.  It 
was  so  understood  after  the  College  was  founded,  and  no  other  claim 
has  ever  been  advanced  until  within  the  last  few  years.  It  was  the 
design  of  all  who  founded  Knox  College,  to  build  up  an  institution 
which  should  be  open  to  the  youth  of  our  country,  without  regard 
to  denominational  relations  of  any  kind.  At  the  same  time,  it  was 
their  design  to  transmit  the  control  of  their  Institution  mainly  to 
men  who  would  represent  their  own  sentiments  as  Presbyterians.  It 
was  expected  fully  that  while  various  denominations  might  be  repre- 
sented in  the  Board,  yet  the  majority  of  Trustees  would  be  men 
sympathizing,  in  ecclesiastical  matters,  with  its  founders.  And 
therefore,  for  many  years  after  the  College  was  founded,  a  majority 
of  its  Trustees  were  Presbyterians.  After  Rev.  Jonathan  Blanch- 
ard  became  President  of  the  College,  it  became  apparent  that  he 
intended,  if  possible,  to  wrest  it  from  Presbyterians,  and  give  it  into 
the  hands  of  Congregationalists.  For  efforts  of  this  kind,  and  for 
other  reasons,  he  was,  as  early  as  1849,  on  the  point  of  being  re- 
moved from  the  Board.  The  matter  was  adjusted,  however,  in  a 
manner  which  led  us  to  believe  that  no  more .  causes  of  complaints 
of  this  kind  would  be  given  by  him.  The  present  large  number  of 
Congregationalists  in  the  Board  has  not  come  through  the  appoint- 
ment of  so  many  of  that  denomination  by  the  Board.  Several  of 
those  who  now  are  among  the  Congregational  members  of  the  Board, 


60  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

were  Presbyterians  by  profession,  when  they  were  elected  as  Trus- 
tees, and  they  were  elected  because  they  were  Presbyterians.  They 
have  since  become  Congregationalists,  and  have  given  their  influence 
and  votes  to  wrest  the  College  from  the  hands  of  those  by  whom 
they  were  appointed.  Against  all  such  efforts  I  have,  with  other 
founders  of  the  College,  continually  protested,  AND  DO  PROTEST.  If 
Congregationalists  had  founded  Knox  College,  I  shoiild  insist  that  it 
ought  to  be  theirs.  But  as  it  was  founded  and  endowed  by  Presby- 
terians, it  ought  to  be  theirs. 

I  have  heard  read  with  care,  the  pamphlet  entitled,  'Rights  of 
Congregationalists  in  Knox  College,'  published  by  order  of  the  Con- 
gregational General  Association  of  Illinois.  From  my  own  personal 
knowledge,  I  declare  that  publication  to  be  false  in  all  its  essential 

P°ints'  SILVANUS  FERRIS. 

GALESBURG,  ILL.,  Dec.  10,  1859." 

The  next  letter  is  from  Professor  N.  H.  Losey,  who  was  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  College,  and  who  has  been  in  its  Faculty  from 
its  organization.  His  efforts  have  contributed  largely  to  elevate  the 
grade  of  scholarship  in  the  College,  and  to  make  it,  in  that  respect, 
truly  an  alma  mater  to  its  graduates.  He  was  for  eleven  years  the 
Treasurer,  and  for  seventeen  years  the  Secretary,  of  the  College. 
No  man  is  better  versed  in  the  early  history  of  the  College  than  he. 

LETTER  OF  PROF.  N.  H.  LOSEY. 

"  I  was  born  in  the  State  of  New  York,  and  was  a  teacher  in  the 
Oneida  Institute  in  that  State,  when  Rev.  G.  W.  Gale  originated 
the  Plan  for  founding  Knox  College.  I  was  well  acquainted  with 
Mr.  Gale  at  that  time,  and  also  with  a  large  number  of  those  who 
became  Subscribers  to  his  Plan.  I  was  myself  a  decided  Presbyte. 
rian  then,  as  I  had  been  many  years  before,  and  have  been  always 
since.  All  the  Subscribers  by  whom  the  College  was  founded  were, 
so  far  as  I  then  knew,  Presbyterians.  I  afterward  learned  that  one 
of  them,  Mr.  Simmons,  was  a  Congregationalist.  The  whole  enter- 
prise was  well  understood  at  that  time  to  be  exclusively  Presbyte- 
rian. Their  claim  has  never,  to  my  knowledge,  been  questioned, 
until  very  recently.  I  have  always  opposed  all  measures  which 
looked  like  an  effort  to  transfer  the  control  of  the  College  to  any 
other  than  Presbyterians.  It  has  always  been  the  desire  of  the 
founders,  as  our  action  clearly  shows,  to  secure  a  fair  representation 


TESTIMONY   OF   FOUNDERS.  61 

of  various  denominations  in  the  College  Board.  The  recent  efforts 
of  Congregationalists  to  secure  to  themselves  a  majority  of  Trus- 
tees, and  thus  perpetuate  the  management  of  the  College  to  their 
own  denomination,  is  in  direct  opposition  to  the  well-known  wishes 
of  the  founders,  and  is  justly  characterized  as  an  attempt  at  a  gross 
usurpation.  The  present  number  of  Congregational  members  in  the 
Board  is  the  result  of  a  change  of  sentiment,  on  the  part  of  several 
who  were  supposed  to  be  Presbyterians  in  heart,  as  they  were  in 
profession,  at  the  time  they  received  their  appointment. 

I  was  present  at  the  organization  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Galesburg,  in  1837.  It  was  voted  unanimously  that  the  church 
should  be  fully  Presbyterian.  I  was  elected  one  of  its  Elders  at  the 
time,  which  office  I  held  until  1845,  when  the  '  Compromise  '  was 
adopted.  The  Session  administered  the  government  of  the  Church, 
during  all  that  time,  as  fully  as  in  any  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
world.  The  members  of  the  Church  often  remained,  after  a  prepara- 
tory lecture,  to  witness  the  examination  of  candidates  for  admission 
to  the  Church,  and  in  some  cases,  especially  when  peculiar  views 
were  advanced  by  the  candidate,  respecting  slavery,  and  other  ques- 
tions of  reform,  they  were  asked  whether  they  were  satisfied  with 
the  sentiments  expressed.  But  the  church  never,  previous  to  the 
'  Compromise,'  voted  upon  the  reception  or  dismission  of  members,  or 
in  any  manner  departed  from  the  usages  common  in  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church. 

N.  H.  LOSEY. 

DECEMBER,  1859." 

The  letter  that  follows  is  from  Rev.  Hiram  H.  Kellogg,  a  Presby- 
terian minister,  well  known  in  the  State  of  New  York.  He  was  the 
first  one  who  subscribed  to  Mr.  Gale's  Plan.  He  became  the  first 
President  of  the  College  in  1839,  and  remained  in  that  office  until 
1845,  when  he  resigned.  He  has  always  cherished  a  deep  interest 
in  the  College,  and  has  looked  with  no  little  alarm  upon  the  efforts 
of  Congregationalists  to  secure  for  themselves  its  control.  His  letter 
was  written  before  the  removal  of  Mr.  Blanchard  from  the  Presi- 
dency, and  had  reference  to  that  result. 

LETTER  OF  EX-PRESIDENT  H.  H.  KELLOGG. 

"MARSHALL,  ONEIDA  Co.,  May  5,  1857. 

*  *  *  As  to  ecclesiastical  relations,  you  know  I  am  not  a 
strong  sectarian.  I  am  of  conviction  and  choice,  a  moderate  New 


62  KSTOX    COLLEGE. 

School  Presbyterian  ;  but  I  have  no  sympathy  with  denominational 
strife,  and  no  desire  for  denominational  aggrandizement.  If  I  was 
a  Congregationalist,  I  should  be  a  moderate  one,  and  if  so,  I  think 
I  should  still  be,  as  I  now  am,  of  opinion  that  Jinox  College  should 
be  under  a  leading  Presbyterian  influence.  I  would  have  the  two 
denominations  represented  in  its  Boards  of  counsel  and  instruction. 
Yet  I  would  have  the  Presbyterian  a  leading  interest.  My  reason 
for  this  is  not  as  a  matter  of  choice,  or  elective  affinity,  but  of  simple 
justice  and  right.  It  was  so  projected- — so  understood  from  the  be- 
ginning. Its  main  parents,  authors  of  its  existence,  were  Presbyte- 
rian, and  their  whole  action,  including  the  plan  for  a  Theological 
School,  shows  this.  Mutatis  mutandis,  if  the  Institution,  in  these 
respects,  had  been  as  much  Congregational  as  it  has  been  Presby- 
terian, I  should  say  as  decidedly  that  its  leading  influences  should 
continue  to  be  Congregational.  *  *  I  would  have  the  President 
a  Presbyterian,  as  a  matter  of  principle. 

H.  H.  KELLOGG." 

The  reader  has  not  forgotten  the  part  taken  by  Mr.  T.  B.  Jervis, 
as  one  of  the  Exploring  Committee,  in  securing  the  present  location 
for  the  College.  Mr.  Jervis  was  a  Subscriber,  and,  soon  after  the 
College  was  founded,  became  a  minister  in  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
in  which  connection  he  still  remains.  His  letter,  which  follows,  will 
show  what  were  his  expectations  as  to  the  denominational  character 
of  the  College  which  he  labored  so  diligently  to  establish. 

LETTER  OF  REV.  T.  B.  JERVIS. 

"NEWPORT,  NEW  YORK,  Aug.  10,  1858. 

*  *  *  You  will  remember  that  I  was  appointed  one,  of  a  com- 
mittee of  three,  to  explore  the  central  part  of  Illinois,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  ascertaining  the  most  suitable  location  of  such  an  Institution. 
With  regard  to  the  Institution,  I  can  only  say,  that  while  it  was  not 
my  supposition  that  it  was  to  be  of  a  sectarian  character,  T  did  think 
that  it  was  to  be  placed  under  decidedly  Presbyterian  auspices.  I 
knew  that  all  the  friends  of  the  enterprise,  with  whom  I  was  per- 
sonally acquainted,  were  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

T.  B.  JERVIS." 

Mr.  Thomas  Gilbert  was  also  a  member  of  the  Exploring  Com- 
mittee, and  in  his  reports  to  the  Prudential  Committee  indicated  so 


TESTIMONY   OF  FOUNDERS.  63 

nearly  the  present  site  of  the  College,  that  the  Purchasing  Commit- 
tee came  immediately  to  Knoxville,  five  miles  from  Galesburg,  in 
the  full  expectation  of  finding  in  the  neighborhood,  as  they  did,  a 
suitable  location. 

LETTER  OF  THOS.  GILBERT. 

"  I  certify  that  I  was  one  of  the  original  Subscribers  to  a  Plan  for 
founding  an  institution  of  learning  in  the  West,  agreeably  to  a  Plan 
which  was  drawn  up  and  advocated  by  Rev.  G.  W.  Gale  ;  and  that 
I  was  appointed  and  served  as  one  of  an  Exploring  Committee, 
which  was  sent  out  to  find  a  suitable  location  for  the  said  institu- 
tion. The  Plan  of  the  enterprise  was  drawn  by  Mr.  Gale.  I  always 
understood  that  it  was  to  be  strictly  a  Presbyterian  Institution.  The 
enterprise  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  Knox  College. 

KNOXVILLE,  July  6,  1859."  THOMAS  GILBERT. 

Benjamin  P.  Johnson,  Esq.,  now  residing  at  Albany,  New  York, 
is  widely  known  in  this  country  as  the  Secretary  of  the  New  York 
State  Agricultural  Society.  He  was  a  Subscriber  to  the  Plan  by 
which  Knox  College  was  built  up,  and  aided  by  his  counsels  in 
securing  the  result.  This  is  his  testimony  : 

LETTER  OF  B.  P.  JOHNSON. 

"ALBANY,  August  11,  1858. 

I  knew  well  the  early  history  of  the  Galesburg  effort  Knowing, 
as  I  did,  the  men  engaged  in  the  enterprise,  I  was  not  a  little  sur- 
prised at  the  assurance  with  which  it  has  been  put  forth,  that  Con- 
gregationalists  are  the  men  who  should  have  the  control  of  this 
great  work.  Certainly  in  its  inception  they  had  little  or  nothing  to 
do  with  it.  It  appears  that  the  great  object  has  been  to  avail  them- 
selves of  other  men's  labors  to  further  their  own,  I  fear,  merely 
sectarian  schemes.  I  trust,  however,  God  in  His  providence  has 
opened  a  way  of  deliverance,  etc.  *  *  If  my  life  should  be 
spared,  I  hope  to  visit  Galesburg,  and  witness  what  has  been  done 
by  those  godly  men  with  whom  I  once  took  counsel,  and  whose  suc- 
cess has  ever  been  dear  to  me.  T>  p 


Jeremiah  Holt,  Esq.,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  was  a  Subscriber,  and 
thus  writes  to  Rev.  Mr.  Gale  : 


64  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

LETTER  OF  J.  HOLT. 

"  CLETKLAND,  Aug.  18,  1858. 

I  was  greatly  interested  in  the  enterprise  which  you  originated  in 
the  State  of  New  York,  from  which  Knox  College  has  resulted,  and 
have  deeply  sympathized  with  those  who  have  sought  its  prosperity, 
during  its  whole  history.  I  was  an  Elder  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Watertown,  New  York,  at  the  time  when  the  meetings 
were  held  in  reference  to  the  Plan  you 'proposed  for  the  establish- 
ment of  institutions  at  the  West,  and  was  the  Secretary  of  the 
meeting  at  Whitesboro',  on  the  19th  of  August,  1835.  Those  who 
felt  an  interest  in  the  matter  and  who  subscribed  to  the  fund  were 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  so  far  as  I  knew.  And  while 
none  of  us  contemplated  a  sectarian  institution,  it  was  understood 
that  as  you  were  a  Presbyterian,  this  would  be  the  general  character 
of  the  College.  I  shall  hope  and  pray  for  its  future  prosperity  with 
much  of  the  feeling  that  I  first  cherished  in  its  behalf. 

JEEEMIAH  HOLT." 

LETTER  OF  REV.  J.  FROST. 

Rev.  John  Frost,  another  Subscriber,  who  is  not  now  living,  was 
widely  known  for  many  years  in  Central  New  York,  as  an  efficient 
and  devoted  Presbyterian  minister.  In  a  letter  written  by  him  to 
Mr.  Gale,  dated  "Elmira,  June  29,  1837,"  a  year  and  a  half  after 
the  College  was  founded,  and  a  few  days  only  after  the  famous 
"Exscinding  Acts"  of  the  majority  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  he  used  this  language :  "  I  rejoice  that  you 
have  the  prospect  of  doing  so  much  good  in  connection  with  your 
associates  as  may  reasonably  be  expected  from  the  Plan  if  carried 
out.  As  we  are  likely  to  be  cut  off  from  most  of  the  Colleges  and 
Theological  Seminaries  which  are  controlled  by  Presbyteria-ns,  we 
must  be  awake  to  the  establishment  of  new  ones,"  etc.  In  other 
words,  Mr.  Frost  rejoiced  in  the  prospective  success  of  Knox  Col- 
lege, because  it  would  be  a  "  new  one  "  in  the  place  of  those  from 
which  its  founders  had  been  driven,  and  which  had  always  been 
"  controlled  by  Presbyterians."  He  expected  Knox  College  to  sup- 
ply the  place,  in  part,  of  those  they  had  lost,  and  to  be  "  controlled 
by  Presbyterians,"  as  they  had  been. 

Thomas  G.  Frost,  Esq.,  a  Trustee  of  the  College,  and  a  prominent 
lawyer,  living  in  Galesburg,  is  a  son  of  Rev.  John  Frost,  and  assures 


TESTIMONY   OF   FOUNDERS.  // /,        65 

the  writer  that  the  sentiments  of  his  father  were  correctly  repre- 
sented in  the  language  of  the  letter  just  quoted.  He  also  stated  in 
writing,  before  he  removed  to  Galesburg,  "  that  when  Mr.  Gale 
formed  the  Plan  of  founding  a  colony  and  establishing  a  College  in 
Galesburg,  Illinois,  his  father  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  scheme, 
manifested  at  the  time  by  contributing  to  its  funds,  and  subsequently 
by  constant  and  earnest  countenance  and  support,  until  the  day  of 
his  death.  His  anticipations  of  the  results  of  the  enterprise  were  of 
the  most  ardent  and  enthusiastic  character.  His  hope  rested  not 
only  upon  the  vast  and  enlightened  Christian  influence  secured  by 
the  institution  thus  established,  but  also  upon  the  tried  Christian 
fidelity,  experience  and  wisdom  of  the  founder  of  the  enterprise, 
and  which,  under  the  smiles  of  Providence,  he  fondly  trusted  would 
continue,  unimpaired  by  alienation,  or  distrust,  to  guide  and  control 
its  destinies." 

Rev.  Phineas  Camp,  now  in  the  Presbytery  of  Utica,  a  Subscri- 
ber, and  a  warm  friend  of  the  College  enterprise,  thus  writes : 

LETTER  OF  REY.  P.  CAMP. 

"  I  hereby  certify  that  I  have  known  the  Rev.  G.  W.  Gale  for 
many  years.  A  year  or  two  before  he  commenced  operations  to- 
ward founding  a  literary  institution  at  the  West  he  communicated 
his  design  and  the  plan  to  me.  I  was  in  favor  of  the  plan,  and 
subsequently  put  in  funds  to  aid  in  its  establishment.  It  was  re- 
garded as  an  enterprise  of  Mr.  Gale,  originating  wholly  with  him. 
Those  who  united  with  him  were  chiefly  of  the  Presbyterian  denomi- 
nation, and  it  was  considered  a  Presbyterian  enterprise.  Its  founders 
and  friends  in  this  region  have  looked  upon  it  with  great  interest, 
and  I  believe  would  exceedingly  regret  any  effort  to  divert  it  from 
its  original  purpose  and  regard  it  as  an  act  of  injustice  to  its 
founders.  PHINEAS  CAMP, 

SEPT.  15,  1855.  Minister  in  connection  with  the  Presbytery  of  Utica." 

Sidney  Rice,  Esq.,  and  his  sister,  Miss  Araminta  P.  Rice,  were 
both  Subscribers  to  the  plan  for  founding  Knox  College.  Mr.  Rice 
thus  writes  in  behalf  of  himself  and  also  of  his  sister : 

LETTER  OF  S.  RICE. 

"  I  was  a  Subscriber  in  1835  to  a  plan  drawn  up  by  Rev.  G.  W. 
Gale,  for  establishing  a  College  and  other  literary  institutions  in  the 


60 


KNOX    COLLEGE. 
\\\  ^ 

West.  That  plan  resulted  in  founding  Knox  College,  Illinois.  My 
sister,  Miss  A.  P.  Rice,  was  also  a  Subscriber  to  the  same  plan.  We 
both  took  farm  lands,  in  accordance  with  the  plan,  equal  in  value  to 
the  amount  of  our  subscriptions.  These  lands  we  returned  to  the 
College  when  it  was  found  that  they  would  be  of  more  value  to  it 
than  the  money.  We  were  Presbyterians,  and  were  members  of 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Dr.  Beman's,  in  Troy,  N.  Y.,  at  the 
time  the  College  was  founded.  The  enterprise  was  understood  by 
us  to  be  exclusively  one  of  Presbyterians..  We  did  not  know  that 
Congregationalists  had  any  part  in  the  work  of  founding  the  Col- 
lege. It  was  the  intention  of  those  who  engaged  in  the  work,  to 
found  a  College  which  should  be  liberal,  and  which  should  offer  its 
advantages  for  education  alike  to  all.  But  we  never  supposed  that 
the  College  would  be  controlled  by  any  other  denomination  of  Chris- 
tians than  the  one  to  which  the  founders  belonged.  An  attempt  by 
any  party  whatever,  to  wrest  the  College  from  the  control  of  Pres- 
byterians, would  be  regarded  by  us  as  in  open  conflict  with  the  ex- 
pectation of  those  by  whom  it  was  founded. 

SIDNEY  RICE. 
CINCINNATI,  OHIO,  March  3,  1860." 

STATEMENT  OF  THOMAS  SIMMONS. 

Mr.  Thomas  Simmons,  the  Congregational  Subscriber,  in  personal 
conversation  with  the  writer  of  this,  somewhat  more  than  a  year 
ago,  admitted  fully  that  all  the  founders  of  the  College  were  Pres- 
lyterians  except  himself.  He  justified  the  attempts  of  Congrega- 
tionalists to  secure  the  control  of  the  College,  on  the  ground  that 
the  Congregational  denomination  was  more  numerous  in  this  part 
of  Illinois,  as  he  supposed,  than  the  Presbyterian,  and  the  strongest 
party  ought  to  rule.  This  sort  of  logic  may  answer  at  a  Congrega- 
tional church  meeting,  but  it  will  hardly  avail  to  settle  questions  in- 
volving the  rights  of  founders  of  Colleges.  The  views  of  Mr.  Sim- 
mons are  also  stated  by  his  son-in-law,  Mr.  E.  S.  Hitchcock,  an 
Elder  in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  in  Galesburg,  in  the  fol- 
lowing language : 

"  I  am  the  son-in-law  of  Mr.  Thomas  Simmons,  one  of  the  found- 
ers of  Knox  College.  Mr.  Simmons  has  admitted,  in  conversations 
on  the  subject  with  me,  that  the  College  originated  with  Presbyteri- 
ans. During  the  present  week,  in  reply  to  a  question  by  me,  with 
direct  reference  to  this  point,  he  stated  distinctly  that  so  far  as  he 


TESTIMONY   OF   FOUNDERS. 

ll 

.        1 1  f/'r 
knew,  all  the  Subscribers,  by  whom  the  College  was  founded,  were 

Presbyterians,  except  himself. 

Before  I  removed  to  Galesburg  among  its  early  settlers,  I  was 
well  acquainted  with  the  history  of  the  enterprise  for  founding  a 
College  here,  and  with  some  of  its  founders,  and  I  understood  that 
it  was  a  work  undertaken  by  Presbyterians.  I  have  never  heard 
any  other  claim  advanced,  until  within  a  few  years. 

JANUARY  2,  I860."  E'  S'  HlTCHCOCK. 

The  Rev.  L.  H.  Loss  was  deeply  interested  in  Mr,  Gale's  plan, 
although  not  a  Subscriber,  and  aided  in  drafting  the  plan,  while  he 
was  pastor  of  a  Presbyterian  church  at  New  York  Mills.  As  he  is 
well  known  throughout  this  State  and  elsewhere,  his  testimony  is 
here  given,  as  follows : 

LETTER  OF  REV.  L.  H.  LOSS. 

"  In  reference  to  what  I  know  of  the  origin  and  founding  of  Knox 
College,  I  have  to  say  that  I  was  acquainted  with  this  enterprise 
from  its  commencement.  In  the  summer  of  1834,  Rev.  Geo.  "W. 
Gale,  with  whom  I  had  been  intimately  acquainted  for  many  years, 
called  on  me  at  my  house  at  the  New  York  Mills,  while  I  was  pastor 
of  the  Presbyterian  church  there,  and  laid  before  me  a  plan  which 
he  had  conceived,  of  founding  an  institution  of  learning  somewhere 
in  the  West.  We  had  repeated  conferences  on  the  subject,  and  at 
his  request,  in  accordance  with  his  suggestions,  I  made  a  draft  of  the 
plan,  which,  after  some  modifications,  was  adopted,  and  is  the  PLAN 
upon  which  the  Galesburg  Colony  and  Knox  College,  of  Illinois,  was 
founded.  Although  not  a  Subscriber,  I  was  deeply  interested  in  the 
success  of  the  enterprise,  and  gave  to  it  most  cordially,  all  the  aid  I 
could.  I  was  personally  acquainted  with  most  of  the  ministers  who 
embarked  in  it.  They  were  members,  witlj  me,  of  the  Oneida  (now 
Utica)  Presbytery.  I  was  also  well  acquainted  with  many  of  the 
Elders  and  other  gentlemen  who  were  the  original  Subscribers  of 
the  Company.  I  was  present  at  the  meeting  of  the  Subscribers  held 
in  Whitesboro',  N.  Y.,  in  January,  1836.  At  that  meeting  the  com- 
mittees all  reported — the  College  and  town  were  named — the  Trus- 
tees chosen,  and  the  farming  lands  distributed.  Up  to  this  time,  and 
as  far  as  I  know,  for  many  years  after,  the  Presbyterian  paternity 
and  character  of  the  enterprise  were  undisputed  and  undoubted. 

L.  H.  Loss." 


68  KNOX    COLLEGE. 

The  reader  must  be  fully  satisfied  by  this  time,  that  the  Subscri- 
bers who  founded  Knox  College  were  Presbyterians,  and  that  they 
intended  to  transmit  its  control  to  Presbyterians.  To  multiply  tes- 
timony of  the  same  kind  as  the  foregoing,  would  add  nothing  to  the 
completeness  of  the  proof.  We  have  here  the  testimony  of  the  one 
Congregational  Subscriber,  as  well  as  that  of  others.  All  state  ex- 
actly the  same  thing  concerning  the  denominational  character  of  the 
men  by  whom  the  College  was  founded. 

Here  then,  it  is  settled  by  the  founders  of  the  College,  that  they 
intended  to  transmit  the  control  of  the  College  to  Presbyterians ; 
and  that  the  supremacy  of  Congregationalists  in  its  control  would 
be  a  usurpation,  in  direct  opposition  to  the  rights  and  wishes  of  those 
founders.  And  yet,  during  the  lifetime  of  those  founders,  in  total 
disregard  of  all  their  intentions,  and  in  conflict  with  all  their  early 
acts,  Mr.  Blanchard  and  his  friends  had  almost  accomplished  that 
usurpation ;  and  because  the  majority  of  the  College  Board,  composed 
of  men  of  four  different  denominations,  and  of  others  who  are  con- 
nected as  members  with  none,  would  not  suffer  them  to  consummate 
their  designs,  they  have  raised  a  great  outcry,  and  thereby  have 
greatly  embittered  a  large  part  of  the  Congregational  body  against 
the  College.  But  Truth  will  spread,  and  when  the  public  come  to 
understand  that  Presbyterians  founded,  and  also  endowed  Knox 
College,  they  will  see  that  the  war  waged  against  it  during 
the  last  two  years,  by  certain  Congregationalists,  has  scarcely  its 
parallel  in  sectarian  injustice  and  outrage.  The  Congregational 
body  will  condemn  at  last  the  great  wrong  which  has  been  perpe- 
trated under  its  name. 

It  ought  here  to  be  stated,  that  no  one  has  ever  pretended  to 
claim,  until  recently,  that  the  College  was  not  founded  by  Presby- 
terians, and  of  right  belonged  to  them.  Plots  enough  have  been 
carried  on,  for  several  years,  to  wrest  it  from  them  ;  but  only  since 
the  removal  of  Mr.  Blanchard,  and  the  consequent  defeat  of  those 
plots,  has  any  one  had  the  boldness  to  assert  that  it  was  mainly 
founded  and  endowed  by  Congregationalists.  Mr.  Blanchard  well 
knew  it  to  be  a  Presbyterian  College,  when  he  became  its  President, 
and  on  that  account  felt  it  necessary  to  assure  the  Board,  that  in 
connecting  himself  with  the  Congregational  body,  he  had  no  special 
zeal  in  that  direction,  which  need  alarm  them.  In  the  year  1844, 
the  Board  made  application  for  aid  from  the  Society  for  Collegiate 
and  Theological  Education  at  the  West.  Mr.  Gale,  who  was 


TESTIMONY   OF   ME.    BLANCHAKD.  69 

instructed  to  make  this  application,  in  a  letter  written  at  the  time,  to 
a  leading  Director  of  that  Society,  among  other  reasons  why  aid 
should  be  granted,  stated  particularly  the  evangelical  character,  and 
consequent  religious  importance  of  the  College,  in  these  words  : 
"  We  are  Presbyterians  in  connection  with  the  Constitutional  As- 
sembly. While  we  feel  it  a  duty  as  Christians  to  cultivate  friendly 
and  kind  relations  with  evangelical  Christians  of  all  denominations, 
and  particularly  with  our  Congregational  brethren,  with  whom  we 
are  so  closely  allied  in  everything  but  church  polity,  we  are  by 
education  and  deliberate  preference  Presbyterians." 

The  application  for  aid  was  not  granted  at  that  time,  the  Society 
having  engaged  in  a  strenuous  effort  to  build  up  Illinois  College,  and 
also  wishing  to  found  a  new  College  at  Davenport,  Iowa.  In  1847, 
Mr.  Blanchard,  who  was  then  President  of  the  College,  was  directed 
to  renew  the  application,  which  he  did.  He  presented  a  written 
report  of  his  efforts  to  the  Board,  in  which  he  uses  this  language, 
which  is  certainly  very  remarkable,  if  the  College  was  then  under- 
stood by  him  to  be  Congregational.  "  Knowing,"  Mr.  Blanchard 
says,  "  that  there  is,  in  many  parts  of  the  East,  a  great  and  growing 
dissatisfaction,  that  funds  given  by  Eastern  Congregationalists, 
should  be  applied  in  the  West  to  the  promotion  of  other  principles 
of  church  government  than  those  of  the  donors,  I  yet  felt  it  my 
duty,  being  myself  a  Congregationalist,  to  inform  those  concerned, 
of  my  intention,  in  case  Knox  College  was  rejected  by  the  College 
Society,  to  appeal  to  Eastern  Congregation alists  against  the  de- 
cision." Here  Mr.  Blanchard  clearly  states  that  any  "  funds  given 
by  Eastern  Congregationalists "  to  Knox  College,  at  that  time, 
would  have  been  given  "  to  the  promotion  of  other  principles  of 
church  government  than  those  of  the  donors."  We  have  here  his 
own  written  testimony  that  the  College  was  not  then  a  Congrega- 
tional institution.  In  the  same  report,  Mr.  Blanchard  stated  that 
"  when  our  application  was  argued  before  the  Board  of  the  College 
Society,  Dr.  Bacon  strongly  insisted  that  it  was  necessary  to  take 
up  Knox  College,  to  prevent  the  appeal  which  would  be  made  to  the 
rising  spirit  of  Congregationalism  at  the  East."  In  Other  words, 
Dr.  Bacon  apprehended  that  this  PRESBYTERIAN  College,  unless  pro- 
tected by  the  sheltering  wing  of  the  College  Society,  might,  through 
the  appeal  of  its  own  President,  become  a  prey  to  "  the  rising  spirit 
of  Congregationalism  at  the  East."  Happy  would  it  have  been  for 
Knox  College,  had  Mr.  Blanchard  been  as  effectually  prevented, 


70  KXOX    COLLEGE. 

since  that  time,  from  making  his  appeal,  not  to  secure  aid  for  the 
College,  but  to  arouse  prejudice  against  it,  to  "  the  rising  spirit  of 
Congregationalism  "  at  the  West. 

THE  COLLEGE  BOARD. 

When  the  College  was  founded,  in  January,  1836,  a  temporary 
Board  of  ten  members  was  appointed,  of  whom,  all  but  two  were 
founders.  Eight  of  the  whole  number  were  Presbyterians,  and  two 
were  Congregationalists.  During  the  year,  Mr.  Matthew  Chambers, 
a  Congregationalist,  was  added.  In  February,  1837,  the  Legislature 
of  Illinois  granted  a  Charter,  in  which  the  following  eleven  persons 
were  named  as  the  Corporate  Board : 

Rev.  John  Waters,  Presbyterian. 
"     Geo.  W.  Gale,  " 

Kehemiah  West,  Elder. 

Parnach  Owen,  "  " 

R.  H.  Hurlburt,  "  " 

N.  H.  Loseyj  « 

Geo.  W.  Wright,     Non-Professor,  afterward  Pres.  Elder. 

John  G.  Sanborn,    Episcopalian. 

Matthew  Chambers,  Congregation aUst. 

Erastus  Swift,  " 

Thomas  Simmons,  " 

The  two  last  named  Congregationalists,  before  the  Board  was 
organized,  became  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Gales- 
burg.  Mr.  M.  Chambers  removed  from  Vermont  to  Knoxville,  the 
town  adjoining  Galesburg,  in  1836,  and  united  with  the  Presbyterian 
Church  there,  of  which  he  was  a  member  when  he  teas  appointed 
in  the  Charter.  He  became  a  ruling  Elder  in  that  Church  before  the 
Board  had  organized,  and  continued  to  hold  the  office  daring  the 
five  years  he  remained  in  the  Knoxville  Church.  He  then  removed 
to  Galesburg,  and  again  for  many  years  was  an  Elder  in  the  Presby- 
terian Church  there.  He  now,  however,  chooses  to  regard  all  those 
professions,  and  solemn  oaths  as  an  officer  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  as  no  true  index  to  his  real  sentiments,  and  so  he  is  here 
accounted  £s  a  Congregationalist.  The  persons  enumerated  in  the 
above  list  as  Presbyterians  were  all  sincerely  such  then,  and  have 
continued  to  be  such  until  now. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  the  corporate  Board  consisted  of  eight  men 
taken  from  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  connection,  and  two  from 
the  Congregational.  Seven  of  the  number  were  in  sentiment  Pres- 
byterians and  three  were  Congregationalists. 


THE   COLLEGE   BOAKD.  71 

The  following  list  includes  all  the  additions  that  have  ever  been 
made  to  the  original  corporate  Board : 

In  1837,  Wm.  Holyoke,  Presbyterian  Elder,  In  Cincinnati  and 

in  Galesburg. 

"     "      Peter  Butler,  Baptist 

"     "      Silvanus  Ferris,  Presbyterian. 

"  1838,  Rev.  IL  H.  KeUogg,  "  President  and  ex, 

officio  Trustee. 

"  1843,  Hon.  James  Knox,      Not  Ch.  Member.      Resigned  soon. 

"  1845,  Rev.  Aratus  Kent,      Presbyterian.  Did  not  accept. 

"     "        "      Horatio  Foot,      Congregationalist 

"     "        "      Flavel  Bascom,  Presbyterian. 

"     "        "     Milton  Kimball, 

"     "      EHFarnham,  Elder. 

"     "      James  Bunce,  " 

"     "      James  Bull,  " 

"  "  Rev.  H.  H.  Kellogg,  Res'd  Presidency, 

elected  Trus. 

"     "        "      J.  Blanchard,      Congregationalist.     Pres't  and  Trust. 

*'  1848,  Hon.  James  Knox,      Not  Ch.  Member. 

"     "      C.  S.  Colton,  Congregationalist. 

"     "      S.  F.  Dolbear,  Presbyterian. 

"     "      Levi  Sanderson,  Congregationalist 

"  1850,  Hon.  O.  H.  Browning,  Not  Ch.  Member. 

"     "      Marcus  B.  Osborne,    Presbyterian  Elder. 

"     "      Wm.  E.  Withrow,  "  " 

"     "      Levi  S.  Stanley,    '  "  " 

"     "      Rev.  S.  G.  Wright,     Congregationalist 

"1852,  Wm.  J.  Phelps,  " 

"     "      Rev.  W.  E.  Holyoke,  " 

"  1856,  Caleb  M.  Pomroy,      Baptist 

"1858,  Thos.  G.  Frost,  Presbyterian. 

"    "      Rev.  H.  Curtis,  D.D.,  "  Pres't  and  Trust 

In  the  above  list,  Mr.  Eli  Farnham  is  named  as  an  Elder  in  a  Pres- 
byterian Church,  at  the  time  he  was  elected  a  Trustee.  He  had 
been  a  member  of  a  Presbyterian  Church  more  than  eight  years 
before  that  election,  and  during  several  of  those  years  had  been  an 
Elder,  which  office  he  continued  to  hold  long  after  he  became  a 
Trustee  of  the  College.  He  is  now  a  Congregationalist,  and  claims 
that  he  was  at  that  time  also  in  sentiment  a  Congregationalist.  Per- 
haps he  was,  but  when  men  have  been  for  years  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  have  held  office  as  Elders  in  that  Church, 
and  have  been  appointed  as  Trustees  in  the  College  while  thus  con- 
nected, and  because  they  were  supposed  to  be,  what  they  professed  to 
be — Presbyterians,  they  cannot  reasonably  ask  to  be  allowed  to 


72  KNOX    COLLEGE. 

credit  their  election  to  the  benefit  of  the  Congregational  body.  Mr. 
Farnham  was  elected  to  the  Board  because  he  was  supposed  to  be 
a  Presbyterian.  Yet,  from  the  fact  that  all  in  the  above  list  were 
in  sentiment,  as  well  as  in  profession,  what  they  are  there  stated  to 
have  been,  except  Mr.  Farnham,  he  will  in  what  follows  be  reckoned 
among  the  Congregationalists.  Thus  that  denomination  is  credited 
with  all  who  have  ever  claimed  to  be  in  sympathy  with  it  when 
elected  to  the  Board,  even  although  they  professed  to  be  Presby- 
terians, and  were  elected  on  account  of  their  profession. 

The  above  list  shows  that  twenty-eight  persons,  including  the 
Presidents,  have  been  elected  to  the  Board  since  its  organization 
under  the  charter.  Of  this  number,  fifteen  were  honest  Presby- 
terians when  elected,  and  eight  were  Congregationalists,  including 
among  them  one  Presbyterian  Elder.  The  list  shows  that  previous 
to  the  election  of  Mr.  Blanchard,  in  1845,  a  period  of  more  than 
eight  years,  nine  Presbyterians  had  been  elected,  and  exactly  TWO 
Congregationalists,  owe  of  whom  was  a  Presbyterian  Elder!  The 
list  shows  what  changes  were  wrought  in  the  Board  by  Mr.  Blan- 
chard, after  his  election.  In  the  corporate  Board,  it  has  been 
shown,  were  seven  true  Presbyterians,  and  three  Congregationalists, 
including  among  them,  also,  one  who  for  years  from  that  time  was  a 
Presbyterian  Elder.  Previous  to  the  election  of  Mr.  Blanchard  as 
President,  there  had  been  appointed  to  the  Board,  including  cor- 
porate members,  sixteen  Presbyterians,  and  five  Congregationalists, 
two  of  whom  professed  to  be  Presbyterians.  Including  charter 
members,  there  have  been  thirty-nine  Trustees,  of  whom  twenty-two 
were  sincere  Presbyterians,  and  eleven  were  Congregationalists. 
Two  of  the  Trustees  were  never  members  of  any  church,  but  both 
of  them  were  when  elected,  as  they  have  continued  to  be  ever  since, 
supporters  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

The  reader  thus  sees  that  previous  to  the  election  of  Mr.  Blanch- 
ard to  the  Presidency  of  the  College,  the  Board  was  almost  wholly 
Presbyterian.  Indeed,  of  the  Congregationalists  elected  during 
that  period  only  three  were  at  the  time  of  their  election  professedly 
Congregationalists.  In  the  foregoing  statements,  that  denomination 
has  been  credited  with  all  the  Presbyterian  members  and  Elders, 
whom  they  have  ever  claimed  as  being,  in  personal  preference,  their 
own. 

It  has  so  happened  in  the  history  of  the  Board,  that  only  one 
of  all  the  places  filled  by  Congregationalists  had  ever  been  vacated, 


THE    COLLEGE    BOAKD.  73 

previous  to  the  removal  of  Mr.  Blanchard,  while  a  large  number  of 
places  filled  by  Presbyterians  have  been  made  vacant  by  the  re- 
moval from  the  State  or  by  the  death  of  the  incumbents. 
Notwithstanding  this  fact,  however,  the  Congregational  party  in  the 
Board  would  be  a  small  minority  at  the  present  time,  if  it  were 
composed  of  those  only  who  were  elected  as  Congregationalists. 
The  present  strength  of  that  party  has  been  caused  by  the  fact  that 
several  Trustees  who  were  by  profession  Presbyterians  when  elected, 
and  who  were  elected  to  represent  Presbyterian  interests,  have  since 
become  Congregationalists.  Rev.  Flavel  Bascom  had  been  for  many 
years  previous  to  his  election,  a  prominent  Presbyterian  minister  in 
this  State.  He  was  elected  to  the  Board  as  a  Presbyterian.  He 
nqw  leads  the  Congregational  party  in  the  Board.  Mr.  Eli  Farn- 
ham  was  an  Elder  in  the  Presbyterian  church  when  elected  a 
Trustee  of  the  College,  and  he  was  elected  because  he  professed  to  be 
a  Presbyterian.  He  is  now  a  Congregationalist.  Other  members, 
who  were  professed  Presbyterians  when  elected,  are  now  claimed 
as  Congregationalists.  They  were  elected  as  Presbyterians  and  not 
as  Congregationalists.  They  have  a  right  to  change  their  denom- 
inational relations  if  they  desire  to  do  so.  JBut  they  have  no  right 
to  carry  over  with  them  to  the  Congregational  body,  rights  which 
were  intrusted  to  them  as  Presbyterians.  This  they  have  done. 
They  have  taken  advantage  of  their  own  change  of  relations  to  in- 
vest the  Congregational  body  with  rights  in  Knox  College,  which 
were  never  granted  to  that  body  by  its  founders,  or  by  its  Board  of 
Trustees.  And  because  the  Board  will  not  allow  them  to  complete 
their  purpose,  which  they  had  so  nearly  accomplished,  they  now 
labor  through  the  General  Association  of  Illinois,  and  through  the 
Congregational  Herald  of  Chicago,  to  injure  the  prosperity  of  the 
College.  They  complain  that  their  rights  in  the  College  as  Con- 
gregationalists have  been  invaded.  To  several  of  those  who  thus 
complain,  the  College  never  intrusted  any  rights  as  Congregation- 
alists. The  rights  now  in  their  hands  were  committed  to  them  as 
Presbyterians.  Moreover,  what  rights  have  they  lost?  Mr. 
Blanchard  is  the  only  man  of  their  number  who  has  been  removed. 
Had  they  a  right  to  retain  him  as  President  of  the  College  against 
the  majority  of  the  Board  ?  It  is  time  the  public  understood  that 
this  outcry,  about  the  loss  of  rights  in  the  College  by  Congregation- 
alists, is  wholly  without  foundation  in  facts.  It  would  be  well,  also, 
not  merely  for  Knox  College,  but  for  other  Institutions  and  Societies 


74:  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

in  our  land,  to  have  the  question  clearly  settled,  as  early  as  possible, 
whether  Congregationalists,  who  were  once  members  of  Presby- 
terian churches,  intend  to  claim  for  their  own  denomination  all 
rights  and  interests  which  were  committed  to  them  when  they  were 
Presbyterians.  That  they  are  justified  in  doing  this,  seems  at  pres- 
ent to  be  the  docti'ine  indorsed  by  the  General  Association  of  Illinois. 
If  that  doctrine  is  to  prevail  in  that  body,  it  is  time  it  was  known,  at 
least  by  the  Presbyterian  church. 

THE  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  GALESBTJRG. 

• 

A  church  was  organized  by  the  Christian  settlers  of  Galesburg  in 
the  early  part  of  1837.  That  church  was,  as  its  own  records  state, 
"fully  Presbyterian."  From  its  organization  until  1845,  it  was  as 
entirely  Presbyterian  in  all  its  polity  as  it  is  possible  for  any  church 
to  be.  It  was  in  connection  with  Presbytery,  and  its  government 
was  administered  exclusively  by  its  Session.  This  is  asserted  by 
all  those  now  living,  who  were  among  its  leading  members  at  that 
time.  It  is  clearly  proved  by  its  records.  Professor  Losey,  who 
was  one  of  its  Elders  from  its  organization  until  the  "  Compromise," 
in  1845,  asserts  that  the  church  was  during  all  that  time  wholly 
Presbyterian.  The  same  thing  is  proved  by  the  "  Compromise," 
which  granted  to  the  church,  as  a  concession  to  Congregationalists, 
the  privilege  of  voting  with  the  Session  upon  the  reception  of  mem- 
bers and,  in  certain  cases,  of  trying  members  accused  of  wrong 
doing.  The  fact  that  these  privileges  were  granted  as  a  "  Compro- 
mise" shows  that  they  were  not  previously  held  as  an  original 
right. 

That  it  was  Presbyterian  is  evident  from  the  fact  shown  in  its 
own  records,  that  more  than  two-thirds  of  those  who  first  united 
with  the  church,  and  whose  vote  determined,  its  polity,  were  Pres- 
byterians. The  "  Rights  of  Congregationalists  "  asserts  that  from 
a  very  early  date  the  church  records,  whose  language  it  professes  to 
quote,  state  that  members  were  always  received  by  "  vote  of  the 
church  and  session."  How  far  from  correct  the  assertion  is  will  ap- 
pear from  the  following  certificate  of  Mr.  Norman  Churchill,  the  pre- 
sent clerk  of  the  church  and  session :  "  I  certify  that  until  the  time  of 
the  Compromise  in  1845,  the  church  records  do  not  state  in  a  single 
instance  that  members  were  received  into  the  church  by  '  vote  of 
the  church  and  session.' — N.  CHURCHILL."  The  writer  of  this 


THE   FIRST   CHURCH   IN   GALESBURG.  75 

knows  from  a  careful  examination  of  the  records  of  that  church 
that  there  is  no  evidence  in  them  of  any  practice  not  strictly  Pres- 
byterian before  the  adoption  of  the  Compromise.  The  recent 
attempt  to  prove  that  from  the  beginning  the  Church  was  semi-Con- 
gregational is  contradicted  by  its  own  records — by  its  early  mem- 
bers— and  by  the  very  terms  of  the  Compromise.  When  that 
Church  was  organized  there  was  not  a  Congregational  Church  within 
fifty  miles  of  Galesburg,  nor  a  Congregational  Association  in  all 
this  region  of  Illinois  ;  while  at  the  same  time,  Presbyterian  Churches 
were  scattered  over  the  whole  region,  and  the  Church  was  formed 
by  a  Committee  of  Schuyler  Presbytery,  within  whose  bounds  the 
colony  had  settled.  Only  a  little  more  than  two  years  ago  Mr. 
Blanchard  published  a  letter  in  the  Galesburg  Newspaper  in  which 
he  confirms  the  above  statements.  In  that  letter  he  says  :  "  You 
remember  when  the  First  Church  in  Galesburg  and  when  Churches 
in  Peoria,  Farmington,  Canton,  Virgil,  Henderson,  Lafayette  and 
Victoria,  were  all  New  School  Presbyterian  Churches.  They  have 
changed  their  polity  without  even  a  split.  There  are  now  no  New 
School  Presbyterian  Churches  in  either  of  the  above  places  except 
in  this  city."  The  world  grows  wise  with  rapid  strides  !  Two 
years  ago  Mr.  Blanchard  was  certain  that  all  here  could  "  remem- 
ber when  the  First  Church  in  Galesburg  was  a  New  School  Presby- 
terian Church" — and  that  it  had  become  Congregational  by  a  change 
from  its  original  polity  !  Within  these  two  short  years,  however, 
the  whole  Congregational  Association  of  this  State,  including  Mr. 
Blanchard,  have  discovered  that  this  Church  was  never  a  New 
School  Presbyterian  Church  in  its  polity. 

The  church  adopted  its  Compromise,  in!845,  a  few  weeks  before  Mr. 
Blanchard  became  President  of  the  College.  They  were  led  to  do  this 
through  the  efforts  of  Rev.  L.  H.  Parker,  a  Congregation alist,  who 
acknowledged  .at  the  time,  that  the  "  Compromise  "  Avas  a  magnani- 
mous sacrifice  on  the  part  of  the  church  to  its  Congregational  members. 
It  was  a  sacrifice  in  the  largest  sense,  for  the  advantage  then  secured 
by  Congregationalists  was  used  as  a  means  of  securing  still  greater 
advantages,  until  at  last  the  Church  has  become  wholly  Congrega- 
tional. The  change,  however,  was  not  secured  from  an  original 
preference  on  the  part  of  the  majority  of  its  members  for  the  Con- 
gregational polity,  but  from  the  notion  that  all  the  sins  of  American 
Slavery  would  be  charged  upon  that  particular  Church,  if  they  did 
not  "  come  out "  and  ;t  separate  "  themselves  from  the  Presbyte- 


76  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

rian  General  Assembly.  In  1851,  the  Church  petitioned  the  whole 
Presbytery  with  which  they  were  connected  to  separate  from  the 
Assembly  solely  on  account  of  Slavery.  In  1853,  they  resolved  to 
send  no  more  delegates  to  Presbytery  until  that  body  would  comply 
with  their  former  request.  In  1855  they  voted  themselves  out  of  all 
connection  with  the  Presbytery,  because  their  former  petition  had 
not  been  granted,  and  for  no  other  reason.  In  1856  they  dropped 
the  word  Presbyterian  from  their  name.  Their  present  position 
and  polity  is  shown  in  the  following  language  of  the  printed  Manual 
of  the  Church  published  about  two  years  ago:  "  Its  Church  polity 
is  that  of  independence.  All  power  resides  within  the  Church.  It 
recognizes  no  right  of  appeal,  by  any  of  its  members,  from  itself  to 
any  ecclesiastical  body  or  bodies."  This  is  its  present  polity.  In 
the  light  of  this  declaration  of  the  Church,  consider  the  following 
facts  :  The  Presbyterian  founders  of  the  College  donated  building 
lots  to  the  "  Presbyterian  Society  of  Galesburg."  This  Church 
received  those  lots,  being  then  the  "  Presbyterian  Church  of  Gales- 
burg."  They  have  now  changed  their  name  and  call  themselves 
the  "  First  Church  of  Christ  in  Galesburg ;"  and  they  have  separat- 
ed entirely  from  the  Presbyterian  body  in  this  country — have 
changed  their  polity  radically — and  declare  their  "  Church  polity 
to  be  that  of  independence."  Yet  they  retain  possession  of  the 
property  given  to  the  "  Presbyterian  Society,"  and  they  do  it  through 
the  following  miserable  fiction :  They  call  themselves  a  "  Congre- 
gational Church" — independent  in  polity,  by  the  name  of  "The 
First  Church  of  Christ "  and  "  The  First  Presbyterian  Society." 
Henceforth  there  will  be  needed  a  new  chapter  in  Ecclesiastical 
History,  showing  the  rationale  of  a  single  body  constituting  at  once 
both  a  Congregational  Church  and  a  Presbyterian  Society !  The 
"  developement"  of  that  Church  into  its  present  position  is  mainly 
due  to  Mr.  Blanchard.  The  early  records  of  the  Church  and  the 
"  Compromise  "  are  here  published,  that  all  may  judge  for  themselves, 
whether  or  not  the  Church  first  established  here  was  "  fully  Pres- 
byterian." 

CHURCH  RECORDS. 

"FEBRUARY  15,  1837. 

The  professors  of  religion  in  Galesburg  met  agreeably  to  ap- 
pointment, at  the  School  House  in  Henderson  Grove,  for  the  purpose 
of  conferring  on  the  subject  of  forming  a  Church  in  this  place.  The 
meeting  was  opened  with  prayer.  Ministers  present :  Rev.  John 


CHURCH   RECORDS.  .        77 

Water?,  who  presided,  and  Rev.  Geo.  W.  Gale,  both  from  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Oneida,  New  York. 

"  After  free  conversation  and  prayer,  it  was  Resolved  unanimously 
that  it  is  expedient,  as  soon  as  practicable,  to  form  a  Church  in  this 
place.  2d,  It  was  Resolved,  that  it  is  expedient,  for  the  sake  of  be- 
coming better  acquainted  with  each  other's  Christian  character,  to 
have  each  one  give  an  account  of  the  reason  of  his  hope — those  who 
present  letters,  as  well  as  those  who  design  for  the  first  time  to  make 
a  profession  of  religion.  The  meeting  was  interesting  and  harmoni- 
ous. Adjourned,  to  meet  in  the  same  place  on  Friday  of  the  present 
week.  Closed  with  prayer." 

(2.) 

"FEBRUARY  17,  1837. 

The  congregation  met  agreeably  to  adjournment,  and  was  opened 
with  prayer.  Members  present  as  at  previous  meeting.  Thirty-one 
persons  presented  letters  from  different  churches  in  New  York  and 
New  England,  and  were  examined  agreeably  to  the  resolution  on 
experimental  religion.  The  meeting  was  deeply  solemn  and  inter- 
esting. Closed  with  prayer." 

(3.) 

"FEBRUARY  21,  (Evening). 

Met  for  the  purpose  of  continuing  the  business  of  the  former 
meeting,  which  was  spent,  as  were  several  other  evenings,  in  receiv- 
ing letters  and  hearing  the  Christian  experience  of  such,  and  of 
examining  those  who  desired  for  the  first  time  to  connect  themselves 
with  the  Church." 

"  SATURDAY,  FERRUARY  25. 

Met  again  at  the  School  House.  Meeting  opened  with  prayer. 
Present:  Rev.  J.  Waters,  who  presided,  Rev.  Geo.  W.  Gale,  and 
Rev.  Mr.  Noel,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Schuyler,  111.,  who  had  been 
appointed  by  his  Presbytery  to  aid  in  the  formation  of  a  Church  in 
this  place.  The  examination  of  candidates  for  Church  fellowship 
was  continued  and  finished,  when  addresses  were  made  by  the  min- 
istering brethren,  and  a  Confession  of  Faith  and  Covenant  presented 
for  consideration.  After  explanations  and  remarks  in  regard  to  the 
Confession  of  Faith  and  Covenant,  the  same  was  unanimously  ap- 
proved. It  was  resolved  that  the  Lord's  Supper  be  administered 
on  the  ensuing  Sabbath,  and  all  who  had  presented  letters  and  been 
examined  with  a  view  to  their  making  a  profession  of  religion,  be 
received  and  required  publicly  to  give  their  assent  to  the  Confession 
of  Faith  and  Covenant.  Closed  with  prayer." 

(4-) 

"  SABBATH,  FEBRUARY  26. 

It  being  inconvenient  for  the  Rev.  Mr.  Noel  to  be  present,  the 
Rev.  Geo.  W.  Gale  preached  in  the  morning.  The  afternoon  was 
occupied  in  adopting  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  Covenant,  and  in 


78  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

the  administration  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper."  (Here  follow 
some  remarks  about  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion.)  "  Sixty-four 
united  with  the  Church  by  letter,  and  eighteen  on  confession — 
making  eighty -two  in  all  that  united  on  this  occasion." 

(5.) 

"WEDNKSDAY,  APRIL  5,  1837. 

The  Church  members  met  at  the  School  House  agreeably  to 
appointment,  and  the  meeting  was  opened  with  prayer.  Present : 
Rev.  John  Waters  and  Geo.  W.  Gale.  After  remarks  by  the  minis- 
tering brethren  present,  and  prayer,  it  was  Resolved  UNANIMOUSLY 
that  it  is  expedient  to  organize  the  Church  FULLY  as  Presbyterian, 
and  to  choose  three  Elders  and  two  Deacons  at  the  present  time. 
The  following  persons  were  then  chosen  Elders  and  Deacons  by  bal- 
lot :  Nehemiah  West,  Neherniah  H.  Losey,  and  John  Kendall,  El- 
ders ;  and  Thomas  Simmons,  and  Abel  Goodell,  Deacons.  Closed 
with  prayer." 

(6.) 

"  SABBATH,  APRIL  9,  1837. 

The  above  mentioned  officers,  viz :  N.  H.  Losey  and  John  Ken- 
dall were  ordained  to  the  office  of  Ruling  Elders,  and  with  N.  West, 
who  had  been  ordained  previously,  were  installed  in  office ;  and  Abel 
Goodell,  who  was  ordained  as  Deacon,  and  Thomas  Simmons,  who 
had  before  been  ordained,  were  also  installed  in  office. 

"  A  Sermon  was  preached  on  the  occasion,  and  the  questions  put 
to  the  candidates  and  Church  by  Rev.  Geo.  W.  Gale,  and  the  prayer 
offered  by  the  Rev.  John  Waters.  The  Church  was  then  declared 
organized  by  the  name  of  the  '  PRESBYTERIAN  CHUKCH  of  Gales- 
burg.'  " 

"/Session  met  after  the  congregation  was  dismissed,  and  designated 
John  Kendall  as  their  delegate  to  the  Presbytery  of  Schuyler,  with 
the  request  that  this  Church  be  taken  under  the  care  of  that 
Presbytery." 

"APRIL  25,  1837. 

Session  met.  Rev.  Geo.  W.  Gale  reported  that  he  and  John 
Kendall  had  attended  a  meeting  of  the  Schuyler  Presbytery,  and 
that  this  Church  was  received  under  its  care."  (Members  received.) 

COMPKOMISE. 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Galesburg,  held  at 
the  Academy,  June  25,  1845,  called  for  the  purpose  of  uniting  upon 
a  Plan  of  Union,  to  meet  the  preferences  of  those  in  the  Church 
who  were  partial  to  the  Congregational  as  well  as  the  Presbyterian 
form  of  government,  Motion  made  by  Mr.  C.  S.  Colton,  that  the 
Plan  of  Union  adopted  by  the  General  Assembly  in  1801,  be  the 
basis  of  a  Plan  to  be  adopted  by  this  Church.  A  Plan  was  then 
presented  as  follows : 


THE   PRESIDENCY.  79 

1st.  That  no  member  shall  hereafter  be  received  into  this  Church 
except  at  a  Church  meeting,  when  every  member  may  have  an 
equal  voice  in  the  case. 

[2nd  and  3rd  articles  relate  to  alternation  in  office  of  Elders  and 
Deacons.] 

4th.  That  when  any  member  shall  come  under  censure  of  the 
Church,  such  member  may  elect  whether  to  be  tried  by  the  Session, 
or  by  the  adult  members  of  the  whole  Church,  and  have  the  same 
right  of  appeal  as  granted  by  the  Presbyterian  and  Congregational 
Churches  in  their  respective  bodies. 

5th.  That  the  Church  may  be  represented  in  Association  and 
Presbytery." 

These  articles  were  adopted  July  5th,  1845. 

"  I  hereby  certify  that  I  have  for  many  years  kept  the  records  of 
the  Church  and  Session  of  the  '  First  Church  of  Christ,'  formerly 
the  '  First  Presbyterian  Church '  in  Galesburg ;  and  that  the  fore- 
going are  true  copies  of  the  records,  embracing  the  minutes  of  all 
the  meetings  held  before  and  up  to  the  complete  organization  of  the 
Church.  I  further  certify,  that  until  the  time  of  the  '  Compromise,' 
in  1845,  of  which  the  above  is  a  true  copy,  the  Church  records  do 
not  state  in  a  single  instance  that  members  were  received  into  the 
Church  by  '  vote  of  the  Church  and  Session.' 

N.  CHUECHILL, 

DEC.  31st,  1859.  Clerk  of  Church  and  Session," 

THE  PRESIDENCY. 

The  causes  which  secured  the  present  strength  of  the  Congre- 
gational party  in  the  Board  have  been  spoken  of  already.  By  death, 
and  by  removals  from  the  State,  and  by  a  change  in  denominational 
relations,  the  Board,  which  consists  of  twenty-five  members,  was 
during  a  few  years  preceding  the  removal  of  Mr.  Blanchard,  divided 
in  respect  to  Church  connections  as  follows:  Twelve  were  Con- 
gregationalists,  nine  were  Presbyterians,  one  was  an  Episcopalian, 
one  was  a  Baptist,  and  two  were  not  members  of  any  church.  The 
Congregationalists  thus  needed  only  one  more  member  to  constitute 
them  a  majority  of  the  whole  Board.  They  had  in  fact  been  an 
acting  majority  for  three  or  four  successive  years  preceding  1857, 
owing  to  the  absence  of  other  members.  This  had  encouraged 
them  to  hope  that  soon  the  entire  control  of  the  College  would  be 
secured  by  their  party.  Mr.  Blanchard  was  especially  desirous  of 
securing  this  result,  because  he  well  knew  that  he  was  so  objection- 
able to  the  majority  of  the  Board,  that  whenever  they  should  all 
meet,  he  would  be  requested  to  resign. 

Many  serious  objections  existed  against  him,  as  President  of  the 


80  KNOX    COLLEGE. 

College.  Some  of  those  who  have  been  loudest  in  their  denunciation 
of  the  members  of  the  Board  who  removed  him  from  office,  are  known 
to  have  expressed  freely,  before  that  act,  the  opinion  that  his  peculiar 
characteristics  as  a  man,  and  the  strong  prejudices  against  him, 
which  were  wide-spread  through  the  State,  rendered  him  unfit  to 
be  at  the  head  of  the  College.  Even  Rev.  Dr.  Beecher  had  ex- 
pressed such  an  opinion.  It  was  a  fact  presented  at  the  meeting  of 
the  Board,  when  Mr.  Blanchard  was  requested  to  resign,  that  during 
the  previous  five  or  six  years,  the  College  had  made  no  advance  in 
its  average  number  of  students,  and  that,  too,  when  the  population 
of  this  region  of  the  State  had  doubled,  and  in  Galesburg,  had  more 
than  quadrupled  during  that  time.  Large  numbers  of  the  students, 
who  entered  the  lower  classes,  left  before  they  reached  the 
senior  year  of  studies.  While  these  facts  were  not  all  charged 
against  the  President,  it  was  believed  that  they  were  in  part  attrib- 
utable to  him.  His  long  continued  hostility  to  some  of  the  older 
members  of  the  Board,  and  in  particular  to  the  founders  of  the 
College,  were  grave  objections  to  him  as  President.  Mr.  Blanchard 
had  long  been  aware  of  the  feelings  of  the  actual  majority  of  the 
Board  toward  him  and  had  anticipated  his  removal  whenever  there 
should  be  a  full  meeting.  That  time  occurred  at  the  Annual  Meet- 
ing of  the  Board  in  June,  1857.  The  matter  was  introduced  by  the 
following  resolution:  "  Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  Board 
the  dissention  and  want  of  confidence,  existing  between  President 
Blanchard  and  Professor  Gale,  are  exerting  a  malign  influence  upon 
the  interests  of  the  College,  and  that  the  prosperity  and  efficiency 
of  the  institution  require  that  their  connection  with  it  should  be 
dissolved,  and  their  places  supplied  by  other  persons  :  Therefore  be 
it  further  Resolved,  That  President  Blanchard  and  Professor  Gale 
be,  and  they  hereby  are,  respectfully  requested  to  resign  their  places 
in  the  Faculty  of  Knox  College."  These  resolutions  were  intro- 
duced in  the  morning,  and  were  freely  discussed  through  the  whole 
day,  President  Blanchard  participating  in  the  discussion,  and  voting 
upon  every  question  connected  with  the  resolutions,  until  the  final 
vote  by  which  they  were  passed.  -As  soon  as  the  resolutions  were 
passed,  Mr.  Blanchard  and  Professor  Gale  resigned.  By  this  act 
Mr.  Blanchard  ceased  to  be  a  member  of  the  Board.  On  the  fol- 
lowing morning,  when  one  of  the  Trustees,  who  had  voted  in  favor 
of  the  resolutions,  was  compelled  to  be  absent  from  the  meeting, 
one  of  the  friends  of  Mr.  Blanchard  brought  forward  a  resolution  to 


THE    PRESIDENCY.  81 

reinstate  him  for  one  year  as  President  of  the  College.  This  was 
lost,  some  of  Mr.  Blanchard's  party  uniting  with  the  others  in  voting 
against  it.  A  motion  was  then  made  and  carried  appointing  three 
Trustees  "  a  Committee  of  Correspondence,  with  a  view  to  supply 
the  Presidency  and  Professorship  just  made  vacant."  The  Chair- 
man of  this  Committee  was  taken  from  among  the  supporters  of 
Mr.  Blanchard.  The  Board  adjourned  to  meet  again  on  the  second 
Thursday  of  August  following,  at  which  time  they  met  and  received 
the  Reports  of  the  above  Committee.  The  majority  of  the  Com- 
mittee, who  represented  those  members  in  the  Board  by  whose 
united  action  Mr.  Blanchard  had  been  removed,  presented  the  fol- 
lowing Report : 

"  The  undersigned,  a  majority  of  the  Committee  appointed  to 
correspond  with  suitable  persons  to  fill  the  vacancies  occasioned  by 
the  resignation  of  President  Blanchard  and  Professor  Gale,  hereby 
beg  leave  to  report,  that  we  have  had,  through  one  of  the  Commit- 
tee, correspondence  with  several  distinguished  scholars  of  the  East, 
any  one  of  whom,  in  the  estimation  of  the  Committee,  might  be 
procured.  But  as  a  positive  answer  could  not  of  course  be  expected, 
we  recommend  a  series  of  names,  in  the  order  hereto  appended,  for 
the  Presidency  of  Knox  College  : 

Rev.  Asa  D.  Smith. 

Prof.  (D.  Howe)  Allen,  Lane  Seminary. 

Rev.  Albert  Barnes,  Philadelphia. 

Prof.  J.  B.  Condit,  Auburn  Seminary. 

Rev.  M.  L.  R.  P.  Thompson,  Buffalo. 
And  we  also  hereby  recommend  as  the  successor  of  Rev.  G.  W. 
Gale,  Rev.  Jno.  W.  Bailey. 

W.    E.    WlTHROW, 

G.  W.  GALE." 

Rev.  F.  Bascom,  Chairman  of  this  Committee,  who  is  the  ac- 
knowledged leader  of  the  Congregational  party  in  the  Board,  pre- 
sented a  minority  report  as  follows  : 

"  The  minority  of  the  Committee  would  respectfully  recommend 
the  appointment  of  Rev.  J.  Blanchard  as  President,  and  Rev.  J. 
W.  Bailey  as  Professor,  to  fill  the  existing  vacancies.  The  recom- 
mendation of  Mr.  Bailey  is  based  upon  the  expectation  of  Mr. 
Blanchard's  restoration.  If  the  Board  refuse  to  re-elect  Mr.  Blan- 
chard, then  it  is  recommended  that  the  vacant  Professorship  be 
filled  only  temporarily." 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Board  when  these  resolutions  were  pre- 
sented, one  of  the  members,  who  had  voted  in  favor  of  the  resierna- 

w .  -     f  O 

tion  of  Mr.  Blanchard,  was  absent,  confined  on  a  sick-bed  at  Pepin, 


82  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

Wisconsin.  Another  ^Presbyterian  member,  who  had  acquiesced 
in  the  removal  of  Mr.  Blanchard,  had  been  induced  afterward  to 
favor  his  restoration  at  this  meeting,  merely  however  as  a  conciliatory 
measure,  and  only  on  the  express  condition  that  Mr.  Blanchard 
should  resign  again  of  his  own  accord  at  the  close  of  the  year. 
From  these  causes,  the  party  who  had  removed  Mr.  Blanchard,  and 
who  believed  that  only  embarrassment  and  mischief  would  result 
from  his  temporary  restoration,  and  who  were  therefore  determined 
if  possible  to  appoint  a  new*  President,  found  themselves  in  an  acci- 
dental minority  of  one,  at  this  meeting. 

The  two  Reports  of  the  Committee  were  accepted,  after  which 
the  "Board  adjourned  until  three  o'clock  P.  M.,  to  hold  an  informal 
meeting,  with  a  view  of  uniting  in  some  definite  action."  The 
members  of  the  Board  immediately  assembled  in  this  informal  meet- 
ing, and  the  friends  of  Mr.  Blanchard  were  then  asked  to  select, 
from  the  list  of  names  presented  in  the  majority  report,  the  name  of 
any  one  who  would  be  most  acceptable  to  them  as  President,  in 
order  that  he  might  be  elected  by  a  unanimous  vote.  They  refused 
to  make  such  a  selection,  but  expressed  their  full  determination  to 
reinstate  Mr.  Blanchard.  The  Faculty  of  the  College,  at  that  time, 
was  composed  of  four  Congregationalists,  and  only  one  Presbyte- 
rian. It  was  manifestly  just,  therefore,  that  a  Presbyterian  should 
be  appointed  to  the  Professorship  made  vacant  by  the  resignation 
of  Mr.  Gale,  and  which  had  always  been  filled  by  a  Presbyterian. 
Yet,  as  a  measure  of  peace,  at  this  meeting,  the  Presbyterian  party 
proposed  to  yield  the  Professorship  to  the  Congregationalists,  pro- 
vided they  would  unite  in  electing  to  the  Presidency  any  one  of  the 
gentlemen  named  in  the  Majority  Report,  and  provided  also,  they 
would  present  some  unobjectionable  name  for  the  Professorship. 
This  proposition  was  presented  in  writing  by  the  Hon.  O.  H.  Brown- 
ing, in  these  words:  "Resolved,  that  when  we  re- assemble  as  a 
Board  of  Trustees,  we  will  proceed  to  elect  Dr.  A.  D.  Smith,  of 
New  York,  or  Professor  Allen,  of  Lane  Seminary,  President  of 
Knox  College ;  and  will,  at  the  same  time,  proceed  to  elect  any 
qualified  and  unobjectionable  gentleman  of  the  Congregational 
Church,  who  may  be  named  by  the  Congregational  members  of  this 
Board,  to  the  Professorship  of  Moral  Philosophy  and  Belles 
Lettres." 

They  were  assured  at  the  same  time,  that  they  wrould  not  be  re- 
stricted to  the  two  names  contained  in  the  resolution,  but  might 


THE    PRESIDENCY.  83 

select  from  the  whole  number  presented  in  the  majority  report. 
This  proposition  was  rejected  at  once  by  the  Congrcgationalists^ho 
insisted  upon  Mr.  Blanehard  as  President.  Before  the  vote  was 
taken  upon  the  resolution,  one  of  their  nnmber  stated,  that  if  the 
proposition  should  be  accepted,  he  should  present  the  name  of  Rev. 
Charles  Beecher,  for  the  vacant  Professorship.  To  this  it  was  re- 
plied, that  it  was  well  known  that  Mr.  Beecher  was  very  objection- 
able to  a  majority  of  the  whole  Board — that  his  name  had  once 
already  been  before  the  Board  at  a  regular  meeting,  and  had  been 
rejected — that  he  could  not  be  the  only  man  in  the  Congregational 
Church,  who  was  qualified  for  the  Professorship — and  that  if  they 
would  present  only  two  names  for  the  place,  one  of  them  would, 
without  any  objection,  be  accepted  and  elected.  To  this  ofier  no 
response  was  made.  A  motion  was  then  made  by  a  Congregational 
member,  that  Mr.  Browning's  resolution  be  laid  upon  the  table,  which 
was  carried,  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  all  the  supporters  of  Mr. 
Blanehard. 

Rev.  F.  Bascom  then  moved  that  the  informal  meeting  be  ad- 
journed, and  that  they  re-assemble  in  the  regular  place  of  meeting, 
and  then,  in  accordance  with  the  recommendation  of  his  minority 
report,  proceed  to  elect  Mr.  Blanehard  and  Mr.  Bailey.  This  motion 
was  carried  by  the  united  vote  of  those  who  had  rejected  the  liberal 
resolution  presented  by  Mr.  Browning.  Thus  the  informal  meeting 
was  adjourned. 

There  remained  to  the  party  who  had  removed  Mr.  Blanehard 
only  this  simple  alternative, — either  to  go  into  the  regular  meeting, 
and  thus  allow  the  Congregationalists  who  were  then  an  accidental 
majority,  to  force  Mr.  Blanehard  upon  the  College  again,  or  else  to 
remain  away  from  the  meeting,  and  thereby  deprive  the  other  party 
of  a  quorum,  and  thus  save  the  College  from  what  they  believed 
would  be  a  great  calamity.  They  did  not  hesitate  to  adopt  the  lat- 
ter course,  believing  that  their  action  would  be  justified  by  all  good 
men  who  knew  the  facts  in  the  case.  The  other  party  met,  but 
were  without  a  quorum.  They,  however,  recommended  to  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  of  the  Board,  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Blanehard 
and  Mr.  Bailey  to  the  vacancies  during  the  coming  year,  and  then 
adjourned.  The  Executive  Committee,  composed  of  five  Trustees, 
made  the  appointments  recommended;  and  thus  Mr.  Blanehard, 
after  having  been  once  removed  and  again  rejected  by  the  Board, 
became  the  acting  President  of  the  College  for  the  next  collegiate 
year.  , 


84  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

Soon  after  this  meeting  of  the  Board  in  August,  letters  were  re- 
ceived from  Rev.  A.  D.  Smith,  D.  D.,  in  which  he  stated  that  it 
would  not  be  possible  for  him,  with  his  present  relations  and  duties, 
to  allow  his  name  to  be  brought  before  the  Board  for  election  to  the 
Presidency  of  the  College. 

The  previous  Committee  of  Correspondence,  and  other  gentle- 
men interested  in  securing  a  suitable  President,  then  pressed  the 
matter  upon  the  Rev.  Dr.  Thompson,  of  Buffalo,  who  was  one  of 
the  gentlemen  named  in  the  report  of  the  majority,  presented  at  the 
late  meeting  of  the  Board.  He  was  earnestly  entreated  not  to  reject 
the  matter  hastily,  but  to  give  to  it  a  careful  consideration.  This  he 
consented  to  do.  Efforts  were  then  made  to  persuade  the  friends  of 
Mr.  Blanchard  to  unite  in  electing  Dr.  Thompson.  His  well-known 
Christian  courtesy  and  urbanity — his  attainments  as  a  scholar — and 
his  eminence  as  a  pulpit  orator,  it  was  thought,  must  commend  him, 
even  to  the  most  violent  partizan,  as  one  eminently  qualified  for  the 
Presidency.  In  the  hope  that  all  parties  would  unite  in  electing 
him,  a  special  meeting  was  called  by  the  acting  President  of  the 
Board,  to  be  held  on  the  15th  day  of  October,  1857.  It  was  well 
understood  by  the  Congregationalists  that  the  Presbyterians  of  the 
Board  intended  to  bring  forward  the  name  of  Dr.  Thompson.  "When 
the  day  for  the  meeting  arrived,  every  member  of  the  Board  was  in 
Galesburg,  and  accordingly,  the  supporters  of  Mr.  Blanchard  were 
no  longer  in  the  majority,  as  they  had  been  at  the  last  meeting. 
They  therefore  resolved  to  remain  away  from  the  appointed  place 
of  meeting.  The  other  members  of  the  Board  met  at  the  appointed 
time  and  place,  and  remained  in  session  during  the  whole  day,  which 
time  was  also  spent  by  the  Congregationalists,  in  a  private  caucus. 
The  only  reason  for  their  refusal  to  come  into  the  meeting,  and  unite 
in  electing  Dr.  Thompson,  was  that  he  was  a  Presbyterian.  They 
had,  after  the  last  meeting,  despaired  of  electing  Mr.  Blanchard, 
and  at  this  time,  they  had  no  candidate  of  their  own  to  present. 
They  were  governed  merely  by  their  sectarian  prejudices,  which 
made  them  hostile  to  any  man,  however  eminent,  who  did  not  be- 
long to  their  own  Congregational  body. 

Just  before  the  close  of  the  day,  they  sent  into  the  meeting  a 
notice  that  they  would  all  come  in,  on  condition  that  no  election 
should  then  be  held  for  President,  and  no  other  business  transacted 
except  to  appoint  a  new  committe  to  report  the  names  of  candidates 
for  the  Presidency  at  a  future  meeting.  Although  it  was  believed 


THE    PRESIDENCY.  85 

that  this  proposal  was  made  for  no  other  reason  than  to  prevent  an 
election  at  that  time,  and  while  it  was  certain  that  no  more  unob- 
jectionable name  than  that  of  Dr.  Thompson,  could  ever  be  pre- 
sented, yet  so  anxious  were  the  majority  of  the  Board  to  secure 
a  full  vote  for  the  President,  whoever  he  might  be,  that  they  ac- 
cepted the  proposal. 

The  full  Board  then  assembled,  when  "  on  motion  of  O.  H.  Brown- 
ing, the  following  resolution  was  passed:  Resolved,  Tnat  John  G. 
Sanborn,  Esq.,  Rev.  S.  G.  Wright,  and  Win.  E.  Withrow,  Esq.,  be 
appointed  a  committee  to  select  and  recommend  to  the  Board  a  suit- 
able man  for  the  Presidency  of  Knox  College,  and  that  they  report 
to  the  Board  at  a  meeting  hereafter  to  be  called." 

That  next  meeting  was  held  on  the  30th  day  of  April,  1858,  at 
which  all  the  Trustees  were  present.  The  majority  of  the  com- 
mittee appointed  at  the  last  meeting  presented  a  report,  recommend- 
ing "  Rev.  Harvey  Curtis,  D.  D.,  of  Chicago,  as  a  suitable  person 
to  be  elected  to  the  Presidency  of  Knox  College."  A  minority 
report  was  presented  by  Rev.  S.  G.  Wright,  a  Congregationalist. 
"  Mr.  Browning  moved  that  both  reports  be  accepted,  and  that  we 
proceed  to  the  election  of  President."  The  Congregationalists,  who 
constituted  a  party  by  themselves,  in  opposition  to  all  other  denomi- 
nations and  parties  in  the  Board,  then  began  a  series  of  systematic 
efforts,  by  various  motions,  to  delay,  and  if  possible  to  hinder  an 
election.  They  then  for  the  first  time  professed  a  willingness  to 
unite  in  electing  Rev.  A.  D.  Smith,  D.  D.  But  they  were  reminded 
that  Dr.  Smith's  name  had  once  been  urged  upon  them,  and  that, 
too,  when  they  were  in  a  majority,  and  that  they  had"  deliberately 
voted  to  lay  upon  the  table  the  proposition  to  elect  him — and  further, 
that  they  knew  perfectly  well,  that  since  that  time,  Dr.  Smith  had 
positively  refused  to  allow  his  name  to  be  presented  as  a  candidate 
for  the  vacant  Presidency.  They  then  proposed  Rev.  Dr.  Thomp- 
son. But  again  they  were  reminded  of  the  fact,  that  only  a  few 
months  before,  the  Board  had  been  called  together,  in  a  special 
meeting,  for  the  express  purpose  of  electing  "Dr.  Thompson,  and 
that  they,  in  order  to  prevent  his  election,  had  factiously  absented 
themselves  from  that  meeting,  until  they  had  extorted  a  pledge 
from  the  other  members  of  the  Board,  that  they  would  not  elect 
him  at  that  time.  They  were  reminded  also  that  Dr.  Thompson  had 
refused,  since  then,  to  be  a  candidate  for  the  office. 

Becoming  well  satisfied,  after  a  large  portion  of  one  day  had  been 


86  KNOX    COLLEGE. 

spent  in  this  manner,  that  the  Congregational  members  were  fully 
resolved  not  to  vote  for  any  man  as  President  who  was  a  Presby- 
terian, unless  he  were  one  who  had  already  assured  them  he  would 
not  accept  if  elected — and  that  their  only  object  in  desiring  a  Con- 
gregationalist  as  President,  was  that  they,  as  Congregationalists, 
might  control  the  Board  and  the  College — and  that  no  good  could 
result  from  any  longer  delay,  the  majority  of  the  Board  proceeded 
to  elect  Rev.  Harvey  Curtis,  D.  D.,  as  President.  Every  Congre- 
gationalist  voted  against  him.  All  the  other  members  of  the  Board, 
consisting  of  representatives  of  four  different  denominations,  and  of 
two  who  had  no  church  relations,  voted  for  him.  Yet  these  same 
Congregationalists,  who  rejected  successively,  Doctors  Smith,  and 
Thompson,  and  Allen,  and  Barnes,  and  Condit,  solely  because  they 
were  Presbyterians,  have  not,  to  this  day,  ceased  their  outcry 
against  that  majority,  whom  they  denounce  before  the  public  as 
"intensely  sectarian!" 

Let  the  foregoing  history  of  the  action  of  both  parties  in  the 
Board,  taken  from  the  College  records,  show  which  party  was 
guilty  of  "intense  sectarianism." 

The  College  Board  is  at  present  divided  as  follows :  Eleven 
Congregationalists,  ten  Presbyterians,  one  Episcopalian,  one  Bap- 
tist, and  two  Non-professors.  The  College  Faculty  consists  of 
seven  Professors  and  one  Tutor,  of  which  number,  three  are 
Presbyterians  and  five  are  Congregationalists.  These  Congrega- 
tionalists in  the  Faculty,  have  all  been  appointed  by  the  unanimous 
votes  of  all  the  Presbyterian  party  in  the  Board,  and  they  have  the 
full  confidence  and  support  of  that  party.  The  question  was  never 
raised,  in  appointing  them,  to  what  denomination  they  belonged. 
They  were  appointed  solely  because  qualified  for  their  position. 
Since  the  removal  of  Mr.  Blanchard,  the  Presbyterians  in  the  Board 
have  created  an  Assistant-Professorship,  and  have  filled  it  by  a 
Congregationalist,  nominated  by  themselves.  These  facts  show 
that  the  majority  of  the  Board  have  no  sectarian  plan  to  accomplish. 
How  can  a  party,  composed  of  so  many  elements,  in  which  four 
different  denominations  are  represented,  be  called  sectarian  ?  The 
word  can  apply  only  to  that  party,  which  consists  wholly  of  men 
of  one  denomination,  and  who  all  act  in  concert  to  gain  a  denomi- 
national end.  There  is  one  such  party  in  the  Board  of  Knox 
College.  The  end  sought  for  is  apparent.  If  they  are  not  content 
with  a  larger  number  of  Trustees  than  any  other  denomination, 


FACTS   ESTABLISHED.  87 

and  with  more  than  one-half  of  the  College  Faculty,  what  would  sat- 
isfy them  ?  They  profess  to  desire  only  a  fair  representation  in  the 
administration  of  the  College.  They  have  now  the  lion's  share. 
To  ask  more  for  themselves  than  they  now  have,  is  simply  to  ask 
for  all  power  in  the  College.  Whether  they  ought  to  have  that, 
let  the  foregoing  facts  determine. 

The  public  are  now  in  possession  of  the  records  and  various 
documents  belonging  to  the  College,  which  will  enable  all  to  judge 
of  the  questions  by  whom  it  was  founded  and  endowed,  and  to 
whom  it  of  right  belongs.  They  have  the  testimony  of  the  men 
who  founded  the  College  on  these  very  points.  From  the  foregoing 
statements,  the  following  facts  among  others,  are  fully  established : 

1.  The  Plan  of  the  College  originated  with  Mr.  Gale. 

2.  The  College  was  founded  by  him  and  the  Subscribers  to  his 
Plan. 

3.  They  did  this  as  Subscribers  to  that  Plan,  and  not  in  any  other 
relation. 

4.  They  paid,  in  money,  to  accomplish  their  Plan,  more  than  the 
whole  sum  at  first  subscribed  by  them. 

5.  The  founders  of  the  College  endowed  it  with  property  which 
has  been  worth  to  it  already,  almost  five  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars. 

6.  Less  than  one-thirtieth  of  the  money,  which  bought  the  land, 
which  has  so  enriched  the  College,  came  from  Congregationalists  ; 
all  the  rest  came  from  Presbyterians. 

7.  The    College    has   received  since  it  was  founded,  donations 
amounting  in  round  numbers  to  $46,000.     Less  than  one-fourth  of 
this   amount  was  donated  by  Congregationalists;    all  the  rest  by 
Presbyterians. 

8.  The  founders  of  the  College,  thirty-four  in  number,  were  all 
Presbyterians  except  one,  who  was  a  Congregation alist. 

9.  Of  these  founders,  a  large  number  have  declared  in  writing 
that    they   intended  to    transmit  the    control   of  the    College   to 
Presbyterians. 

10.  In  fact,  the  College  was  during  many  years  governed  almost 
wholly  by  Presbyterians,  and  an  overwhelming  majority  of  all  its 
Trustees  have  been  chosen  from  that  denomination. 

11.  The  present  number  of  Congregationalists  in  the  Board  is  the 
result  in  part  of  a  change  in  denominational  relations  of  some  who 
were  Presbyterians  when  elected  Trustees.     So  many  Congrega- 


88  KXOX    COLLEGE. 

tionalists  as  are  now  in  it,  were  never  appointed,  as  such,  by  the 
Board. 

12.  Congregationalists  have  been  divested  of  no  rights  whatever 
in  the  College,  and  their  dissatisfaction  with  their  present  power  is 
proof  that  they  desire  the  entire  supremacy. 

13.  The  whole  course  of  the  majority  of  the  Board  in  appointing 
a  successor  to  Mr.  Blanchard  was  wise,  and  liberal,  and  forbearing. 
They  proposed  the  very  man,  Rev.  A.  D.  Smith,  D.  D.,  whom  the 
Congregationalists  now  profess  to  have  desired  as  President  of  the 
College ;   and  their  proposal  to  elect  him  was  laid  upon  the  table  by 
Congregational  votes. 

14.  The  appointments  made  by  the  Board  to  the  College  Faculty, 
indicate  fully  that  no  sectarian  or  narrow  policy  governs  the  major- 
ity.    That  majority  is  composed   of   men   who   are   members   or 
supporters  of  New  School  and  Old  School  Presbyterian,  Episcopa- 
lian, and  Baptist  churches.     The  elements  of  which  the  party  is 
composed  show  that  they  can  never  be  governed  by  any  mere  pre- 
judice for  a  sect.     They  have  been  governed  by  their  knowledge  of 
what  was  right,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  College  was  founded  and 
endowed  by  Presbyterians.     They  intend  to  be  governed  by  that 
fact,  hereafter,  in  all  their  action  as  a  Board. 

"RIGHTS  OF  CONGREGATIONALISTS  IN  KNOX 
COLLEGE." 

This  is  the  title  of  a  Report  presented  at  the  annual  meeting  of 
the  Congregational  General  Association  of  Illinois,  held  in  Bloom- 
ington,  in  May  last,  and  which  was  adopted  unanimously  by  that 
body,  and  ordered  to  be  printed  and  distributed.  The  Report  was 
presented  by  the  following  seven  gentlemen,  who  had  been  appointed 
the  year  before :  Rev.  W.  W.  Patton,  C.  G.  Hammond,  Esq.,  Hon. 
Owen  Lovejoy,  Rev.  Wm.  Carter,  Rev.  S.  H.  Emery,  Willard  Keyes, 
Esq.,  and  Rev.  J.  Emerson.  The  Report  was  professedly  occasioned 
by  the  action  of  the  Presbytery  of  Peoria  and  Knox,  at  their  meet- 
ing in  September,  1857,  when  the  controversy  respecting  Knox 
College  was  raging  in  its  greatest  violence,  and  when  Dr.  Edward 
Beecher,  in  particular,  had  been  so  far  overcome  by  excited  feeling 
as  to  forget  both  the  courtesies  and  proper  province  of  public  con- 
troversy, and  was  using  the  press,  East  and  West,  and  the  Congre- 
gational pulpits  of  the  principal  cities  in  this  State,  in  an  ungenerous 


"EIGHTS  OP  CONGREGATIONALISTS."  89 

and  wholly  unprovoked  onset  upon  the  character  of  those  members 
of  the  College  Board  by  whom  Mr.  Blanchard  had  been  removed,  and 
f  all  their  Presbyterian  supporters.  In  their  action,  the  Presbytery 
stated  that  they  had  "  incontestable  evidence  of  the  following  facts, 
viz :  That  the  idea  of  founding  Knox  College  originated  among 
Presbyterians ;  that  it  was  successfully  carried  into  execution  by 
them ;  that  almost  the  whole  amount  of  property,  by  means  of  which 
the  College  has  been  carried  on  successfully  for  twenty  years,  and 
which  now  constitutes  its  large  endowment,  was  given  by  them ; 
that  it  was,  for  more  than  ten  years  after  its  foundation,  under  their 
entire  control ;  and  that  its  founders  desired  and  expected  that  the 
Presbyterian  body  should  have  a  larger  share  in  the  control  of  the 
Institution  than  any  other  body." 

The  Presbytery  also  took  action  respecting  the  assaults  of  Rev. 
Dr.  Beecher  upon  their  members,  which  action  will  be  given  in  its 
proper  place  hereafter. 

To  inquire  whether  these  statements  of  the  Presbytery  were  true 
or  not,  and  whether  their  action  concerning  Dr.  Beecher  was  well 
founded  or  not,  was  the  professed  object  for  which  the  above  named 
Committee  were  appointed  by  the  Association.  To  accomplish  the 
object  of  their  appointment,  in  learning  the  facts  concerning  the 
founders  of  Kuox  College,  and  the  sources  and  amount  of  the  money 
by  which  it  has  been  endowed,  would  require,  as  every  one  can  see, 
much  time  spent  in  examining  the  records,  and  Treasurer's  books, 
and  all  other  documentary  evidence  belonging  to  the  College. 
These  are  the  principal  sources  to  which  any  one  must  apply  for 
full  and  reliable  information  on  the  points  to  be  investigated  by  the 
Committee.  To  examine  these  documents  with  proper  care  is  the 
work,  as  the  writer  hereof  knows  from  experience,  not  of  hours,  but 
of  many  laborious  days.  The  important  nature  of  the  facts  to  be 
investigated  demanded  of  the  Committee  the  most  patient  and  faith- 
ful examination  of  all  the  evidence  to  be  obtained.  The  fact  that 
their  Report  would  affect  materially  the  interests  of  the  College  con- 
cerned, and  the  relations  of  Presbyterians  and  Congregation alists 
throughout  the  State,  made  it  the  imperative  duty  of  that  Commit- 
tee to  leave  no  book  or  paper  unexamined,  which  related  to  the  mat- 
ter committed  to  them.  Whether  that  Committee  were  faithful  to 
their  trust,  and  pursued  that  laborious  process  of  careful  investiga- 
tion which  the  nature  of  the  case,  and  the  importance  of  the  matter 
demanded  of  them  ;  and  whether  they  even  made  any  investigation 


90  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

whatever,  shall  be  answered  by  their  own  published  records,  which 
are  as  follows : 

"  The  Committee,  by  appointment  of  the  Chairman,  met  Tuesday, 
at  10  o'clock  A.  M.,  September  28th,  1858,  at  the  Lecture  Room 
of  the  First  Church  of  Christ,  in  Galesburg,  111.  Rev.  Wm.  W. 
Patton,  and  brother  Charles  G.  Hammond,  of  Chicago — Rev.  S.  H. 
Emery,  and  brother  Willard  Keyes,  of  Quincy,  a  majority  of  the 
Committee,  were  present."  [The  minutes  then  give  the  items  of  the 
organization  of  the  Committee,  and  other  matters  preparatory  to 
their  work,  including  "  an  order  of  investigation  and  business  to 
be  pursued  in  the  public  meeting."  This  consumed  the  morning 
hours,  and  the  Committee  adjourned  until  after  dinner.  The 
minutes  then  state  as  follows  :] 

"  l£  o'clock  P.  M.  The  Committee  met  and  the  exercises  were 
opened  with  prayer  by  Rev.  S.  H.  Emery.  The  Chairman  stated 
that  in  their  investigation  the  Committee  would  pursue  the  order 
of  subjects  found  in  the  action  of  the  Presbytery  of  Peoria  and 
Knox  taken  at  its  meeting  in  Galesburg,  Sept.  10th,  1857,  and  pub- 
lished by  its  direction  in  the  secular  and  religious  papers.  The 
messenger  reported  that  he  had  delivered  the  note  of  invitation 
into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Bailey,  and  that  no  reply  was  sent  back. 

The  remainder  of  the  afternoon  was  spent  in  listening  to  argu- 
ments by  Rev.  J.  Blanchard,  Ex-President  of  Knox  College,  against 
the  positions  of  the  Presbytery,  and  in  examining  witnesses  upon 
the  various  points  raised,  among  whom  were  Rev.  Messrs.  Blanchard, 
E.  Beecher  and  L.  H.  Parker,  and  Messrs.  Colton,  Simmons,  Tomp- 
kins,  Henry  Ferris  and  De  Long. 

Various  printed  and  written  documents  were  also  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  Committee,  among  which  were  certified  copies  of  the 
plot  of  the  farm  lands  which  had  been  sold  by  the  College,  and  of 
the  records  of  the  county,  showing  to  whom  such  lands  had  been 
deeded  by  the  College.  Adjourned  till  7  o'clock  P.  M. 

7  o'clock  P.  M.  The  session  was  opened  with  prayer  by  the 
Chairman.  The  meeting  was  held  in  the  church  to  accommodate 
the  great  number  in  attendance,  and  the  edifice  was  filled  by  a  large 
and  deeply  interested  congregation  representing  all  parties.  The 
investigation  was  resumed,  and  President  Blanchard  heard  still 
further,  and  the  following  witnesses  examined,  viz.  :  Rev.  L.  H. 
Parker,  and  Dr.  E.  Beecher,  and  Messrs.  H.  Ferris,  W.  Ferris,'  E. 
Farnham  and  Paine.  Additional  printed  and  written  documents 
were  introduced. 

The  Chairman  and  other  members  of  the  Committee  repeatedly 
called  upon  those  present  to  bear  any  testimony,  make  any  state- 
ment, or  offer  any  suggestion  relevant  to  any  of  the  topics  that  had 
been  brought  forward. 

Rev.  Edward  Beecher,  D.  D.,  was  then  heard  in  defense  of  him- 
self against  the  charges  made  in  the  official  paper  of  the  Presbytery, 
vindicating  his  motives  and  conduct  in  the  part  which  he  had  taken 
in  the  controversy  respecting  the  College. 


"EIGHTS  OF  CONGREGATIONALISTS."  91 

At  a  late  hour,  after  the  Chairman  had  made  a  final  call  for  fur- 
ther evidence  or  suggestions  from  any  quarter,  the  Committee  ad- 
journed to  meet  in  Chicago,  at  the  call  of  the  Chairman,  at  some 
time  during  the  sessions  of  the  Triennial  Convention,  to  meet  Oct. 
20th. 

Oct.  21,  1858.  The  Committee  met  in  Chicago  at  9  o'clock 
A.  M.,  and  spent  an  hour  in  an  interchange  of  views  and  in  heai'ing 
the  first  part  of  the  Report  which  had  been  drawn  up  by  the  Chair- 
man. Adjourned  till  to-morrow  morning  at  9  o'clock. 

Oct.  22,  9  o'clock  A.  M.  The  Committee  met  and  the  session 
was  opened  with  prayer  by  the  Chairman.  The  consideration  of  the 
Report  was  resumed,  which  was  very  carefully  read  and  considered, 
paragraph  by  paragraph,  with  the  evidence  sustaining  each  position. 
After  the  unanimous  adoption  of  the  Report,  the  Chairman  was 
directed  to  prepare  a  copious  Appendix,  containing  the  evidence 
upon  which  the  Report  was  based,  said  Appendix  to  be  submitted  to 
the  Committee  for  approval  at  a  future  meeting. 

April  25,  1859.  The  Committee  met  at  the  call  of  the  Chairman, 
in  Chicago,  and  heard  the  Appendix,  which  was  approved.  Ad- 
journed till  meeting  of  General  Association,  at  Bloo'mington. 

May  27,  1859.  The  Committee  met  at  Bloomington,  111.,  for  a 
final  consideration  of  the  Report  and  Appendix,  which  were  unani- 
mously approved  and  ordered  to  be  laid  before  the  General  Associ- 
ation. 

»,,     ,   )  WM.  W.  PATTON,   Chairman. 

ist'[  S.  H.  EMERY,  Secretary." 

The  foregoing  records  show  the  following  facts : 

1.  That  the  Committee  spent  only  one  afternoon  and  evening, 
after  they  were  organized,  in  accomplishing  the  great  work  commit- 
ted to  them  by  the  General  Association. 

2.  That  the  whole  afternoon,  and  a  part — the  principal  part  in 
fact — of  the  evening,  were  "  spent  in  listening  to  arguments  by 
Rev.  J.  Blanchard,  Ex-President  of  Knox  College,  against  the  posi- 
tions of  the  Presbytery,  and  in  examining  witnesses  upon  the  various 
points  raised."     I  ask  the  reader  if  "  listening  to  an  argument  by 
Mr.   Blanchard"    was   an  INVESTIGATION?     The    Committee   well 
knew  what    Mr.   Blanchard's   feelings   toward  the  College   were. 
They  knew  what  his  views  were  on  the  questions  in  controversy, 
for  he  had  published  them  more  than  a  year  before.     The  Presby- 
tery had  made  a   statement  fully  denying  the  truth  of  Mr.  Blan- 
chard's declarations.     This  Committee  were  sent  to  Galesburg  to 
learn  the  truth  of  these  matters,  and  they  spent  almost  their  whole 
time  in  listening  to  an  argument  from  Mr.  Blanchard.     A  few  wit- 
nesses were  examined  on  unimportant  points — a  few  papers,  prepared 


92  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

principally  by  Mr.  Blanchard,  or  under  his  direction,  were  received 
by  them ;  but  the  records  of  the  College — the  books  of  the  Treas- 
urer— the  valuable  reports  and  other  documents  on  file  with  the 
Secretary,  were  not  examined,  even  for  one  moment.  This  Com- 
mittee did  not  investigate  at  all  the  matters  in  controversy.  Do  the 
public  wonder  now  why  leading  Presbyterians  in  Galesburg  did  not 
come  before  that  Committee  and  state  what  facts  they  knew  in  the 
case  ?  Had  the  Committee  applied  to  the  College  Board,  or  its 
proper  officers,  for  permission  to  examine  the  documents  in  their 
possession,  and  thereby  indicated  a  determination  to  investigate 
thoroughly  the  whole  question  in  controversy,  then  would  Presby- 
terians have  aided  them  gladly.  But  when  the  Committee  assumed  the 
position  of  a  COURT,  as  they  did,  and  left  to  Presbyterians  the  alter- 
native of  coming  before  them  and  proving  their  own  case,  or  else 
of  losing  it  by  mere  default,  then  it  was  resolved  that  the  Committee 
might  grope  their  own  way,  under  their  own  chosen  guides,  "  blind 
leaders  of  the  blind." 

3.  The  Minutes   show   further,  that   when   Mr.  Blanchard   had 
ended  his  argument  against   the  Presbytery,  then  "Rev.  Edward 
Beecher,  D.  D.,  was  heard  in  defense  of  himself  /"     In  this  way 
the  Committee  investigated  this  part  of  the  case ;  as  though  they 
did  not  know  already  what  Dr.  Beecher  thought  of  himself.     And 
then — the  labors  of  the  Committee  ended — they  adjourned  "  at  a 
late  hour,  to  meet  in  Chicago  "  in  three  weeks  from  that  time. 

4.  The  Minutes  show  that  when  the  Committee  met  again  in  Chi- 
cago, after  the  day  spent  in  Galesburg,  they  spent  "  an  hour  "  in 
conversation,  and  in  hearing  the  first  part  of  the  Report,  which  had 
already  "  been  drawn  up  by  the  Chairman"    The  Committee  made 
no  investigation  while  in  Galesburg,  but  spent  their  time  in  listening 
to  Mr.  Blanchard  and  Dr.  Beecher.     The  first  time  they  met  again, 
their  Report  was  already  prepared,  written  by  the  Chairman,  Rev.  W. 
W.  Patton.     They  met  again  the  next  day,  when  the  remainder  of 
the  Report  was  very  carefully  "  read  and  considered,  paragraph  by 
paragraph."     The  CHAIRMAN  was  then  directed  to  prepare  an  Ap- 
pendix, which  he  did,  and  which  was  read  to  the  other  members  of 
the  Committee  at  a  future  meeting.     And  then  the  work  of  the 
Committee  was  done. 

5.  It  appears  that  the  Hon.  Owen  Lovejoy,  Rev.  J.  Emerson,  and 
Rev.  W.   Carter,  were  not  present  at  Galesburg,  when  the  other 
members  of  the  Committee  met — never  saw  any  of  the  documents 


"EIGHTS  OF  CONGKEGATIONALISTS."  93 

which  must  be  appealed  to  in  such  a  question  as  the  one  which  led 
to  their  appointment — and  yet  that  they  afterward  signed  the  Report 
with  the  others,  declaring  as  their  closing  words,  that  their  Report 
was  a  "statement of  indubitable  facts."  How  did  these  gentlemen 
know  the  statements  of  that  Report  to  be  "  indubitable  facts  ?" 
Did  they  ever  see  the  documents — those  only  which  would  be  re- 
ceived in  a  court  of  justice — as  proof  that  theirs  was  a  statement  of 
facts  ? 

Here,  then,  AVC  see  how  faithful  the  Committee  were  to  their  trust. 
Their  Report,  instead  of  rising  to  the  dignity  of  a  candid  and  careful 
investigation,  sinks  down  to  nothing  more  than  a  labored  indorse- 
ment of  Mr.  BlancharcTs  story.  Their  Report,  as  to  its  substance, 
was  prepared  for  them  and  put  into  their  hands  by  Mr.  Blanchard. 
The  Association  were,  doubtless,  all  too  willing  to  accept  a  Report, 
whose  "  indubitable  facts  "  showed,  what  they  had  never  known  or 
dreamed  of  before,  that  Knox  College  had  been  founded  and  en- 
dowed by  Congregationalists.  The  Committee  confided  in  the  judg- 
ment of  their  Chairman,  and  were  willing  enough  to  sign  his  Report, 
when  it  was  so  favorable  to  their  cause.  And  their  Chairman,  in 
the  fervor  of  his  zeal  against  Presbyterianism,  was  blinded  to  the 
important  fact  that  his  Report  was  based  upon  no  investigation  or 
knowledge  of  his  own,  but  that  the  strong-willed  Ex-President  had 
been  using  him  as  a  mere  Amanuensis.  The  result  exhibits  itself  in 
a  Report,  every  one  of  whose  essential  points  flatly  contradicts  the 
Records  and  Treasury  books,  and  the  clear  intentions  of  all  the 
founders  of  the  College.  It  was  never  before  the  fortune  of  any  one 
man  to  persuade  so  many  men,  wiser  and  better  than  himself,  to  in-, 
dorse  and  publish,  on  their  own  authority,  so  much  error  in  so  small 
a  compass.  The  Committee  introduce  a  large  amount  of  miscel- 
laneous matter  in  the  appendix  to  their  Report,  as  proof  of  their 
statements.  They  no  doubt  believe  their  own  Report.  Their  mis- 
fortune consisted  in  not  investigating  properly  the  questions 
submitted  to  them.  They  took  whatever  Mr.  Blanchard  put  into 
their  hands,  and  inquired  no  further.  They  were  in  Galesburg — 
their  business  was  to  go  to  the  College  and  examine  its  docu- 
ments. This,  as  business  men,  they  must  have  known  was  their 
duty.  A  large  part  of  the  public  suppose  they  did  this,  as  a  matter 
of  course.  Their  own  Minutes  show  that  they  did  no  such  thing. 
Every  person  in  Galesburg  knows  that  they  .did  no  such  thing. 
Their  "  investigation  "  was  a  farce,  as  to  its  character,  and  an  impo- 


94  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

sition  upon  the  public  as  to  its  results.  Their  pretended  "  indubita- 
ble facts"  are  not  facts.  Their  Report,  however,  is  now  doing  its 
daily  work  of  wrong  against  Knox  College.  That  Committee  have 
a  serious  account  yet  to  settle  with  the  Church,  the  general  public, 
and  their  own  consciences,  for  sending  forth  such  a  Report,  based 
on  such  an  investigation,  to  injure  such  an  Institution. 

The  history  contained  in  the  foregoing  pages  of  this  pamphlet, 
derived  from  the  archives  of  the  College  and  from  the  testimony  of 
its  founders,  is  itself  a  complete  answer  to  the  Report  before  us. 
Yet,  that  the  reader  may  more  clearly  perceive  the  gross  errors 
which  the  Committee  were  so  unfortunate  as  to  indorse,  I  propose  to 
compare  some  of  the  most  important  of  their  statements  with  the 
documents  belonging  to  the  College.  Before  doing  this,  the  atten- 
tion of  the  reader  is  asked  for  one  moment  to  the  confidence  with 
which  the  Committee  assert  the  truth  of  their  Report.  In  their  clos- 
ing remarks,  "  the  Committee  unanimously  declare  that  the  allega- 
tions of  the  Presbytery  are  in  every  respect  unfounded,  and  are 
indeed  so  opposite  to  the  facts  as  to  threaten  to  bring  great  discredit 
upon  the  statements  emanating  from  ecclesiastical  bodies."  The 
Presbytery,  it  will  be  remembered,  stated  that  Knox  College  had 
been  founded  and  endowed  mainly  by  Presbyterians.  The  Com- 
mittee submitted  their  Report  as  a  "  statement  of  indubitable  facts." 
They  declare  in  their  minutes,  that  "  the  Report  was  very  carefully 
read,  and  considered  paragraph  by  paragraph,  with  the  evidence 
sustaining  each  position."  Thus  they  plight  their  honor  as  men  to 
the  Christian  public  and  the  world,  for  the  truth  of  their  Report. 

1.  On  page  23  of  the  Report,  and  in  the  appendix  H,  the  Com- 
mittee endeavor  to  show  that  the  "  original  subscription,"  obtained 
by  Dr.  Gale,  was  never  collected,  and  that  those  Subscribers  had  a 
very  small  share  in  founding  the  College.  They  say,  "  the  subscrip- 
tion, as  such,  was  abandoned,  and  but  a  fraction  of  the  actual 
endowment  was  ever  contributed  by  the  original  Subscribers."  And 
again,  "  as  a  matter  of  fact,  whatever  money  came  from  the  original 
Subscribers  forms  a  very  small  part  of  the  funds  of  the  College, 
while  the  original  subscription,  as  such,  fell  through  and  never  was 
collected." 

Will  the  reader  compare  this  bold  statement  of  the  Committee 
with  the  College  records  and  other  documents  published  in  the  first 
part  of  this  pamphlet.  Those  records  show  that  it  was  the  "Sub- 
scribers" to  Mr.  Gale's  Plan,  who  held  the  several  meetings  there 


"EIGHTS  OF  COXGKEGATIONALISTS."  95 

reported — who  appointed  the  Exploring  and  Purchasing  Commit- 
tees— who  raised  the  money  which  bought  all  the  land — who  founded 
the  College — and  who  then  donated  to  it  land,  which  has  since  then 
been  worth  to  it  more  than  half  a  million  of  dollars.  These  men 
called  themselves  "  Subscribers  to  Mr.  Gale's  Plan,"  in  their 
minutes,  and  they  are  the  same  men  whose  names  are  found  in  the 
original  subscription  book. 

2.  But,  say  the  Committee,  page  58,   "  If  the  original  subscrip- 
tion was  paid,  the  money  has  never  been  accounted  for  to  the  Trus- 
tees of  the  College.     The  accounts  are  satisfactory  and  square  with 
the  facts  without  .this  sum;  but  if  this   amount  be  added  to  the 
money  obtained  by  loan  and  otherwise,  there  is  a  large  deficit,  for 
which   somebody  is  responsible."     How  do  the  Committee  know 
what  the  "  accounts"  are  concerning  this  matter  ?     Did  they  ever 
examine  them  or  get  any  statement  from  the  Treasurer  showing 
what  they  were  ?     Their  statement  is  absolutely  false.     The  earliest 
account  books  of  the  College,  consisting  of  a  "Blotter,"  a  "  Jour- 
nal," and  a  "Ledger,"  contain  the  names  of  all  the  Subscribers, 
except  the  four  who  took  no  lands.     They  are  there  credited  with 
more  than  the  whole  amount  of  their  original  subscription.     These 
books  show  that  the  College  received  from  them  all  its  original  lands- 
They  show  that  these  Subscribers  paid  for  all  the  lands  given  to  the 
College.     They  show  that  they  paid  several  thousand  dollars  more 
than  the  whole  original  cost  of  the  land.     The  accounts  of  the  Col- 
lege at  the  beginning  are  based  wholly  upon  the  donations  made  by 
those  Subscribers.     All  these  facts  are  the  opening  items  of  the 
College  treasury  books.     There  they  stand  facing  every  man  who 
opens  these  books.     Yet  this  Committee  were  duped  into  the  reck- 
less statement  that  the  accounts  do  not  show  that  anything  was  ever 
paid  by  the  Subscribers. 

3.  In  order  to  prove  that  the   original  subscription  was  aban- 
doned, the  Committee  give,  to  use  their  own  language,  page  59,  "  the 
names  of  the  original  Subscribers."     This  list  of  names,  they  say 
is  a  " certified  copy,"  and  was  obtained  "through  the  kindness  of 
Professor  Losey."    Read  what  Professor  Losey  says: 

"  I  have  never  given  any  copy  of  the  names  contained  in  the  sub- 
scription book  to.  the  Committee,  or  to  any  other  person.  I  have 
never  certified  to  the  correctness  of  any  copy  of  those  names.  Mr. 
Blanchard,  at  one  time  last  year,  asked  to  see  the  book,  and  I  went 
with  him  to  an  office  where  the  subscription  book  then  was,  and 


96  KNOX    COLLEGE. 

requested  him  to  examine  it,  that  he  might  see  how  false  were  some 
of  the  statements  which  he  had  publicly  made  not  long  before, 
respecting  that  subscription.  He  examined  the  book  and  wrote 
something  at  the  same  time.  What  he  wrote  I  know  not,  although 
I  supposed  he  was  copying  the  names. 
DEC.  1859."  K  H-  LOBBY. 

It  turns  out,  then,  that  the  "  certified  copy  "  did  not  come  from 
Mr.  Losey.     From  whom  did  it  come  ? 

4.  That  list  of  "the  names  of  the  original  Subscribers,"  embrac- 
ing fifty-six  in  all,  as  given  by  the  Committee,*  contains  fifteen  names 
that  are  not  found  in  the  list  of  Subscribers  in  the  subscription  book! 
They  are  names  added  to  those  of  the  Subscribers,  to  make  out  the 
proof  that  the  subscription  fell  through.     The  original  subscription 
book  contains,  on  its  first  page,  the  printed  Plan  of  Mr.  Gale.     This 
is  immediately  followed  by  the  following  heading :     "  We,  the  Sub- 
scribers,  agree  to  pay  the  sums  set  opposite  to  our  names  respect- 
ively, to  such  person  or  persons  as  shall  be  designated  by  the  Sub- 
scribers or  Board  of  Trustees  elected  by  them,  for  the  purposes,  and 
in  the  manner  set  forth  in  the  foregoing  printed  Preamble  and  Plan 
for  establishing  literary  institutions  in  the  West."     This  is  followed 
by  the  names  of  the  Subscribers,  all  in  their  o^cn  handwriting,  except 
in  two  or  three  cases,  when  they  were  written  by  some  one  else, 
which  fact  is  always  denoted  with  the  initials  of  the  person  who 
wrote  them.     These  names  follow  each  other  in  the  subscription 
book  in  close  order.     They  are  then  followed  by  fourteen  blank 
pages  of  the  book,  after  which  we  come  to  a  private  memorandum, 
made  by  Mr.  Gale  while  acting  as  agent  of  the  Association.     This 
memorandum  is  in  pencil  mark — all  of  it  in  the  handwriting  of  Mr. 
Gale,  and  is  thus  headed  :     "  Families  who  will  go  as  soon  (as)  they 
can  sell."     After  this  follow  fifteen  names,  more  than  half  of  them 
without  any  Christian  name  or  initials  prefixed.     Now  these  fifteen 
names  under  this  heading,  "  families  who  will  go,"  etc.,  and  sepa- 
rated from  the  Subscribers  by  fourteen  blank  pages,  are  all  reported 
by  the  Committee  as  original  Subscribers.     Moreover,  they  had  a 
"  certified  copy  "  that  the  list  they  give  is  correct.     If  any  man  certi- 
fied to  the  correctness  of  such  a  list,  from  an   examination  of  the 
subscription  book,  he  was  guilty  of  something  worse  than  a  mistake. 

5.  As  further  proof  that  the  subscription  fell  through,  the  Com- 
mittee say,   page  59,  "  that  but  ten  persons  "  of  the  original  Sub- 
scribers "  actually  engaged  in  the  enterprise  and  made  any  pay- 

*  The  Subscription  Book  contains  only  forty-six  names  as  Subscribers. 


"RIGHTS  OF  CONGREGATIONALISTS."  97 

ments ;"  that  "  more  than  three-quarters  of  the  original  Association 
purchased  no  farms,  and  their  subscriptions  were  never  paid."  The 
Day-book,  and  Journal,  and  Ledger  of  the  College,  are  all  before  me 
as  I  write,  and  I  see  on  their  pages  the  names,  not  of  ten  only,  but 
of  thirty  of  these  Subscribers,  charged  with  lands  bought  of  the 
Association,  in  January,  1836,  according  to  the  Plan.  These  thirty 
names  embrace  all  but  four  of  the  Subscribers  who  founded  the 
College.  These  Subscribers  are  charged  with  their  lands  as  bona 
fide  purchasers,  and  only  eight  of  them  ever  returned  their  lands, 
which  were  only  a  small  fraction  of  all  that  had  been  bought ;  and 
this  most  of  them  did,  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  the  agent  of  the 
College,  and  solely  for  its  benefit,  and  not  because  they  were  unwil- 
ling to  pay  for  them.  Had  the  Committee  taken  the  trouble,  while 
in  Galesburg,  to  step  into  the  office  of  the  Treasurer  and  examine 
his  books,  they  might  have  learned  all  these  facts,  and  thus  have 
saved  themselves  from  an  imposition,  and  have  spared  the  College 
and  its  founders  the  great  wrong  their  Report  has  done  them. 

6.  The  Committee  next  endeavor  to  show  that  the  sale  of  farm- 
lands to  the  Subscribers  in  Whitesboro',  N.  Y.,  in  January,  1836, 
was  only  a  "professed  sale" — a  "sale  only  in  name  " — and  "the 
memorandum  of  it  is  entirely  unreliable  as  showing  actual,  pecuni- 
ary transactions."  Most  unfortunate  Committee  !  The  "  memoran- 
dum "  of  that  sale,  which  they  think  is  so  "  entirely  unreliable," 
chances  to  be,  first,  the  College  records  ;  second,  a  list  of  the  lands 
sold  and  the  names  of  the  purchasers,  made  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
meeting  at  which  the  sale  took  place,  and  now  on  file  among  the 
papers  of  the  College  ;  third,  the  Day-book  ;  fourth,  the  Journal ; 
fifth,  the  Ledger  of  the  College  treasury.  The  whole  matter  stands 
on  the  opening  pages  of  these  books,  and  it  stands  there  just  as  it 
has  been  given  in  the  early  pages  of  this  pamphlet.  The  College 
opens  its  books — commences  its  accounts — by  recording  the  sale 
made  at  that  meeting,  in  the  State  of  New  York.  That  sale  was 
a  part  of  the  original  Plan,  and  until  then,  the  College,  which  had 
just  been  founded,  had  received  no  endowment. 

And  here  I  pause  and  ask  what  do  this  Committee  mean  by  such 
frequent  and  positive  assertions  concerning  matters  which  they 
know  nothing  about,  and  which  are  contradicted  in  the  plainest 
manner  by  the  records  and  account  books  of  the  College  ?  Not 
only  has  the  College  been  injured  by  such  unpardonable  errors  of 
statement,  but  the  public  have  been  grossly  imposed  upon,  and  that 


98  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

too,  by  men  from  whom  they  had  a  right  to  expect  a  clear  under- 
standing of  the  things  which  they  declare  to  be  "indubitable  facts." 

7.  The  Committee,  having  shown  in  their  Report,  that  the 
"  Subscribers,  as  such,"  neither  founded  nor  endowed  the  College, 
next  endeavor  to  enlighten  us  upon  the  question,  who  were  its  found- 
ers and  endowers  ?  The  reader  will  remember  what  the  College 
records  have  said  on  this  point.  According  to  them  the  College 
was  founded  by  the  Subscribers,  at  their  meeting  in  January,  1836, 
in  Whitesboro',  N.  Y.,  who  then  appointed  its  Board  of  Trustees. 
It  was  also  endowed  at  that  meeting  by  the  same  "  Subsci-ibers  " 
who  donated  to  it  lands  from  which  almost  all  its  wealth  has  been 
derived. 

Now  this  Committee  are  not  men  who  are  ignorant  of  what  is 
meant  by  founding  and  endowing  a  College.  They  know  that  the 
act  of  the  Subscribers,  in  New  York,  was  in  every  sense — in  the 
fullest  legal,  technical,  and  moral  sense — an  act  of  founding  and 
endowing.  Then,  and  then  only,  was  any  action  ever  taken,  by 
any  one,  to  found  Knox  College.  And  the  history  of  the  College 
begins,  in  its  own  records,  from  that  day.  It  was  at  that  time  also, 
as  its  own  books  show,  that  its  lands,  which  have  made  it  so  rich, 
were  given  to  it,  and  given  for  the  express  purpose  of  sustaining  it 
in  accomplishing  the  ends  of  a  College.  The  men  who  originate 
the  Plan  for  a  College — who  organize  it — who  appoint  its  Board  of 
Trustees — and  who  then  enrich  it  by  their  donations,  are  its  found- 
ers and  endowers.  No  men  know  this  better  than  this  Committee. 
Yet  see  how  they  represent  this  matter  !  They  gravely  tell  us  that 
the  men  who  came  as  early  "  settlers  "  into  Galesburg,  (a  place 
that  had  no  existence  until  after  the  College  was  founded) — who 
never  donated  one  dollar  in  money  or  one  acre  of  land  to  the  Col- 
lege— who  bought  lands,  not  for  the  College,  but  from  it,  for  their 
own  private  interest — these  are  the  men  by  whom  Knox  College 
was  founded  and  endowed.  The  men  who  came  to  Galesburg 
"  and  purchased  the  original  lands  "  then  owned  and  offered  for  sale 
by  the  College,  "  with  scholarships  attached,  at  a  high  rate,"  did 
it,  say  the  Committee,  p.  24,  "  for  the  express  purpose  of  FOUNDING 
the  College."  Again  they  say,  on  page  77,  "there  is  no  doubt  that 
the  original  endoroment  of  the  College  was  by  the  sale  of  the  farm- 
lands to  those  settlers  who  came  during  the  early  years  of  the  en- 
terprise and  who  chose  to  pay  five  dollars  there  in  order  to  ENDOW 
the  College,  instead  of  purchasing  at  a  less  price  elsewhere."  Here 


"EIGHTS  OF  CONGREGATIONALISTS."  99 

we  have  the  views  of  this  Committee,  and  these  views  run  through 
the  whole  of  their  Report.  The  men  who  found  and  endow  a  Col- 
lege are  not  those  who  originate  the  plan— who  organize  the  institution 
— who  appoint  a  Board  of  Trust — who  secure  for  it  a  Charter,  nam- 
ing in  that  Charter  the  corporators — and  who  donate  to  it  lands 
out  of  which  it  may  realize  an  annual  income  equal  to  all  its  wants ; 
but  they  are  those  "  who  came  as  settlers  during  the  early 
years  of  the  enterprise,"  who  buy  for  their  own  private  speculation 
the  farm-lands  which  the  College  offers  for  sale  to  any  man  who  is 
willing  to  pay  its  price.  Honorable,  magnanimous,  "non-sectarian" 
Committee !  In  order  to  drag  in  some  names  that  belonged  to 
Congregationalists,  and  hinge  upon  them  a  claim  to  the  College, 
they  put  aside  the  "  Subscribers  "  and  ignore  all  their  acts  as  found- 
ers, and  then  represent  the  College  as  having  been  founded  and 
endowed  by  the  men  who  bought  its  farm-lands — a  representation 
which  is  as  absurd  as  it  is  false.  Never  was  there  a  more  ungener- 
ous attempt,  for  mere  party  purposes,  to  falsify  history,  and  deprive 
noble  men  of  the  honors  due  them,  than  this  of  the  Committee,  in 
endeavoring  to  transfer  the  credit  of  having  founded  and  liberally 
endowed  Knox  College,  from  the  "Subscribers"  to  the  mixed 
multitude,  with  various  interests,  who  constituted  the  early  settlers 
of  Galesburg. 

8.  I  come  now  to  the  most  important  part  of  the  Report — that 
upon  which  the  Committee  base  almost  wholly  the  claim  of  Congre- 
gationalists to  Knox  College.  On  page  29  of  their  Report,  the  Com- 
mittee show  that  the  College  has  received  from  Presbyterians,  in 
donations  and  for  lands  sold  them,  only  about  $8,000,  while  it  has 
received  from  Congregationalists,  more  than  $67,000.  "It  thus 
appears,"  say  they,  "  that  where  New  School  Presbyterians  have 
contributed  one  dollar  to  the  support  and  endowment  of  Knox  Col- 
lege, Congregationalists  have  contributed  eight  dollars ! "  "  If,  then, 
a  denominational  claim  is  to  rest  upon  a  pecuniary  basis,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  Institution  should  be  in  the  hands  of  Congregational- 
ists." In  respect  to  "  pure  donations  "  made  to  the  College,  the 
matter  stands  thus  in  the  Report :  "  Congregationalists  have  fur- 
nished forty-nine  dollars  to  one  of  the  real  donations  !"  This  Com- 
mittee seem  never  to  have  known  that  the  whole  amount  of  lands 
which  the  College  owned  at  first,  was  a  "  pure  donation"  from  the 
founders.  Or,  if  they  knew  it,  they  are  careful  that  their  readers 
shall  never  know  it.  The  above  "  facts  "  of  the  Report  are  based 


100  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

mainly  upon  that  part  of  the  "  Appendix  "  embraced  tinder  the  let- 
ter R.,  pp.  77-79.  They  there  give  a  "  certified  list  of  the  purcha- 
sers of  the  farm-lands  of  Knox  College."  They  there  show  that 
Congregationalists  have  paid  for  farm-lands,  above  $25,000,  while 
Presbyterians  have  paid  for  farm-lands  only  about  $7,000.  On  page 
25  they  say,  "  to  this  part  of  the  Appendix  the  Committee  would 
call  the  patient  attention  of  every  reader."  The  list  of  names  which 
they  there  give,  is  declared  by  them  to  be  "  drawn  from  the  County 
Records."  The  list  was  also  "  certified  to  be  correct  by  Thomas 
N.  Ayres  &  Son,  Real  Estate  Agents."  Then  the  list  was  "  exam- 
ined by  six  of  the  early  settlers,  men  of  standing  in  Galesburg," 
who  certify  that  the  list  of  names,  the  amount  purchased,  and  the 
price  per  acre  paid  by  each  purchaser,  and  also  their  Church  rela- 
tions, are  all  correctly  stated.  These  six  gentlemen,  who  vouch  for 
the  truth  of  the  Committee's  statement,  are  Messrs.  Eli  Farnham, 
Henry  Ferris,  C.  S.  Colton,  R.  Payne,  L.  Sanderson,  and  Matthew 
Chambers.  Four  of  them  are  Congregational  members  of  the 
Board  of  Knox  College.  A  portion  of  the  Report  so  important  as 
this  is,  in  its  bearings  upon  the  argument  of  the  Committee,  and  so 
well  supported  by  vouchers,  and  "  County  Abstracts,"  deserves  the 
"patient  attention"  which  the  Committee  invite  to  it.  The  reader 
is  asked  to  examine  it  with  me,  in  the  light  of  the  College  Treasury 
books,  and  of  the  County  Recorder's  certificate,  and  of  other  unde- 
niable facts,  that  it  may  be  seen  how  utterly  blind  this  Committee 
were,  and  into  what  depths  of  error  they  were  led  by  the  "  argu- 
ment "  to  which  they  listened  too  credulously  in  Galesburg. 

(1.)  The  list  furnished  by  the  Committee  contains  the  names  of 
those  who  "  purchased  the  farm-lands  of  Knox  College,"  and  be- 
cause they  did  this  they  are  claimed  as  the  actual  "  founders  "  and 
"  endowers  "  of  the  College.  To  this  point  it  is  enough  to  say,  that 
if  the  list  were  perfectly  correct,  it  would  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  question  before  the  Committee.  It  requires  no  great  amount  of 
sense  to  know  that  the  College  must  have  been  founded  before  it 
could  own  lands  to  sell  to  "  early  settlers,"  or  to  any  one  else.  The 
real  question  is,  who  were  those  founders  ?  Certainly  they  were  not 
those  who  bought  lands  from  the  College.  Then,  it  requires  no  more 
sense  to  know  that  the  men  who  bought  these  lands  from  the  Col- 
lege, did  not,  in  so  doing,  endow  it.  The  men  who  gave  those  lands 
to  the  College  were  the  men  by  whom  it  was  endowed.  Does  the 
reader  suppose  our  Committee  were  so  ignorant  as  not  to  know  these 


"  EIGHTS   OF    CONGREGATIONALISTS."  101 

things  ?  And  if  they  did  know  them,  what  are  we  to  think  of  their 
attempt  to  mislead  the  public  on  these  points  ?  They  have  commit- 
ted a  great  fault.  It  must  be  charged  either  against  the  head  or 
against  the  heart.  The  Committee  may  choose  for  themselves  which 
it  shall  be.  If  the  Committee  honestly  believed  that  the  purchasers 
of  lands  from  the  College,  and  not  those  who  donated  the  lands  to 
the  College,  are  its  "  founders  and  endowers,"  why  were  they  not 
consistent  with  themselves  in  their  Report  ?  They  state  that  Judge 
Phelps  gave  to  the  College  eighteen  quarter-sections  of  land,  and 
therefore  he  is  credited  with  almost  the  whole  present  endowment 
of  the  College.  But,  according  to  their  previous  representations, 
Judge  Phelps  did  nothing  toward  endowing  the  College  with  his 
lands :  The  men  who  bought  those  lands  from  the  College  are  the 
men  to  whom  that  credit  belongs.  Is  not  this  something  worse  than 
nonsense  ?  But  again,  if  the  men  who  bought  College  lands  for 
themselves,  are  its  only  real  benefactors,  then  why  have  the  Com- 
mittee inquired  only  concerning  the  purchasers  of  farm-lands? 
The  village  property  has  been  worth  far  more  than  the  farm-lands  of 
the  College. 

The  College  has  at  interest,  at  the  present  time,  above  $200,000. 
It  has  expended  for  buildings  more  than  $100,000.  It  has  expend- 
ed in  other  ways  above  $200,000.  The  College  lands  have  thus 
furnished  it  with  money,  or  its  equivalent,  to  an  amount  exceeding 
half  a  million  of  dollars.  The  Committee  have  endeavored  to  show 
us  the  sources  whence  only  $43,000  of  this  amount  have  been  de- 
rived. But  if  the  men  who  furnished  $43,000,  by  buying  College 
lands,  are  to  be  regarded  as  its  endowers,  are  not  those  who  furnished 
more  than  $450,000,  in  exactly  the  same  way,  to  be  regarded  also 
as  having  done  something  toward  its  endowment?  It  seems 
puerile  to  labor  to  meet  such  positions  as  the  above,  and  yet  they 
are  the  essential  points  in  the  Report  of  the  Committee. 

(2.)  The  list  furnished  by  the  Committee  contains  fifty-nine 
names  of  persons,  all  of  whom  are  represented  as  having  been 
among  the  "  early  settlers"  of  Galesburg,  and  who  bought  "  during 
the  early  years  of  the  enterprise."  "  They  paid  the  money  which 
started  the  College."  "  They  were  the  men  who  bought  of  the 
Association"  and  none  of  them  are  included  among  those  who 
came  in  at  a  later  day  and  "  bought  of  the  College,  since  it  has  been 
endowed."  How  much  truth  there  is  in  this  part  of  the  Report,  will 


102  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

appear  from  the  following  facts,  taken  from  the  College  books,  con- 
cerning some  of  the  names  in  the  list  of  the  Committee  : 

W.  A.  Wood,  purchased  in  1854, 19  years  after  College  was  founded. 

S.  Richardson,        "  "      "  "  "  " 

A.  B.  Clark,            "  "      "  " 

G.  W.  G.  Ferris,   «  "      "  "  "  " 

L.  Gary,                  "  "      " 

J.  Jerauld,               «  1846,11  "  "  " 

A.  G.  Pearson,       "  1853, 18  "  "  " 

W.  D.  Lee,             "  1850,  15  "  "  " 

J.  Blanchard,          "  1852,17  "  " 

The  above  facts  show  that  the  Committee  knew  nothing  about 
the  matter  of  which  they  wrote. 

A  large  number  of  those  reported  in  their  list  as  having  purchased 
at  "  an  early  date,"  purchased  only  within  the  last  few  years.  And 
their  list  embraces  some  who  never  purchased  any  farm-lands  of  the 
College  at  any  time. 

(3.)  Every  one  of  the  fifty -nine  purchasers  is  reported  as  having 
paid  exactly  Jive  dollars  an  acre  for  his  land.  "  They  bought  at  five 
dollars  an  acre : "  "  They  chose  to  pay  five  dollars  instead  of  pur- 
chasing at  a  less  price  elsewhere."  Now  the  simple  fact  is,  that 
hardly  one  of  all  the  actual  purchasers  in  that  list  bought  at  exactly 
five  dollars  an  acre.  Every  one  of  the  six  men,  who  vouch  for  the 
correctness  of  the  list,  paid  on  an  average  more  than  that  price  for 
the  land  they  bought.  To  see  how  remote  from  the  truth  this  Com- 
mittee are,  look  at  the  following  names  as  they  stand  on  the  Col- 
lege books : 

L.  Gary,  paid  per  acre,  $25 

A.  G.  Pearson,  "  "  "  30 

W.  A.  Wood,  "  "  "  25 

S.  Richardson,  "  "  "  22 

A.  B.  Clark,  "  "  "  21 

G.  W.  G.  Ferris,  «  "  "  30 

J.  Blanchard,  "  "  "  15 

The  number  of  names  might  be  increased  with  a  like  result  as  this 
until  it  embraced  full  three-fourtJis  of  all  reported  by  the  Committee 
who  were  actual  purchasers  of  the  College  lands.  But  my  only 
object  is  to  present  enough  to  convince  the  Committee  of  the  grave 
errors  into  which  they  fell. 

(4.)  As  the  price  per  acre,  according  to  the  Committee,  was  ex- 
actly five  dollars,  while  according  to  the  College  treasury  it  was  in 
almost  every  case  much  more  than  that,  so  the  amounts  paid  by 


"EIGHTS  OF  CONGREGATIONALISTS."  103 

each  one,  as  given  by  the  Committee,  are,  in  most  cases,  much  less 
than  those  credited  on  the  Treasurer's  books  : 

W.  A.  Wood,    paid  as  per  Report,  $600  as  per  Treasurer,    $3,850 

S.  Ferris,               "  "  "  "  1,200  "  "  "  3,160 

G.  W.  Gale,          "  "  "  "  1,200  "  "  "  3,930 

G.  W.  G.  Ferris,  «  "  "  «  1,500  "  "  "  8,630 

N.  West,                «  "  "  "  600  "  "  "  1,480 

A.  G.  Pearson,     "  "  "  "  400  "  "  "  2,400 

L.  Gary,                "  "  "  "  400  «  «  "  2,000 

J.  Blanchard,        «  "  "  "  800  "  "  "  2,400 

The  reader  can  see  how  much  credit  is  to  be  given  to  the  claims 
of  the  Committee  in  behalf  of  Congregationalists  when  they  are 
founded  upon  such  statements  as  theirs  above.  The  Committee  find 
that  all  the  Presbyterian  purchasers  together  paid  only  about  $7,000. 
In  the  above  list  the  first  five  names  are  those  of  Presbyterians, 
who,  it  will  be  seen,  paid  more  than  $21,000.  One  of  those  Pres- 
byterians alone  paid  more  than  the  Committee  have  credited  to 
that  whole  class  in  their  entire  list. 

(5.)  According  to  the  Committee  only  nine  of  all  the  fifty-nine 
names  in  their  list  were  Presbyterians,  and  they  only  purchased  to 
the  aggregate  amount  of  $7,400.  Now  if  these  nine  were  all  the 
purchasers  who  were  Presbyterians,  which  they  are  not,  still  the 
treasury  books  show  that  these  same  nine  bought  farm-lands  to  the 
amount  of  $16,910. 

(6.)  The  Committee  profess  to  give  only  the  names  of  purchasers 
at  an  early  day.  In  classifying  them  as  Congregationalists  or  Pres- 
byterians they  credit  to  the  former  class  all  who  now  "sustain 
the  two  Congregational  Churches  in  Galesburg."  This  is  certainly 
an  easy  method  of  settling  a  question  about  matters  that  occurred, 
as  they  claim,  twenty  and  more  years  ago.  Many  of  those  "who 
now  sustain  the  two  Congregational  Churches  "  in  this  place,  were 
Presbyterians  twenty  years  ago,  and  never  then  had  even  a  dream 
that  they  would  ever  become  Congregationalists.  Some  of  them 
are  yet  Presbyterians.  As  proof  of  these  points  read  the  following 
certificate  from  one  of  those  reported  as  Congregational  purchasers  : 

"  I  hereby  certify  that  I  was  a  Presbyterian  when  I  bought  my 
land  of  the  Agent  of  the  College,  and  have  never  changed  my  sen- 
timents. 

HENRY  WILCOX. 

GALESBURG,  July  28,  1859." 


104:  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

This  gentleman  "  supports  one  of  the  Congregational  Churches 
in  Galesburg."  What  he  declares  to  be  true  of  himself  is  true  of 
not  a  few  of  those  claimed  by  the  Committee  as  Congregationalists. 

(7.)  In  the  list  of  the  Committee  are  a  number  of  names,  as  pur- 
chasers from  the  College,  who  in  fact  did  not  buy  of  the  College, 
but  of  some  other  party.  As  proof  of  this  point  read  the  following 
statement  from  one  of  the  "  supporters  of  one  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Churches  "  in  this  place : 

"  I  hereby  certify  that  I  had  been  for  many  years  previous  to 
coming  here,  an  officer  in  a  Presbyterian  Church,  and  that  I  united 
with  the  Church  in  this  place  as  a  Presbyterian.  The  land  which 
I  purchased  had  passed  through  several  hands  after  it  was  sold  by 
the  College  before  I  came  in  possession  of  it.  I  assumed  a  part  of 
the  indebtedness  to  the  Trustees,  and  as  was  customary  in  such  cases, 
I  received  my  deed  from  them. 

JOEL  MARTIN. 

GALESBUKG,  Aug.  1859." 

(8.)  The  Committee  throw  out  of  the  account  seven  names  em- 
braced in  their  list  because  their  "  sentiments  are  not  known." 
At  first  view  this  seems  very  fair,  but  when  it  proves  to  be  a  fact, 
well  known  to  others  if  not  to  the  Committee,  that  all  of  these 
seven  were  Presbyterians,  except  one,  who  was  not  a  Congregation- 
alist,  then  the  ignorance  of  the  Committee  assumes  a  suspicious 
hue.  Their  ignorance  occurred  at  that  fortunate  moment  when  it 
would  have  been  "  folly  to  be  wise."  They  thereby  deduct  several 
thousand  dollars  from  the  Presbyterian  column. 

(9.)  The  Committee,  in  this  list,  have  been  compelled  to  give  the 
names  of  some  of  the  "Subscribers"  as  purchasers,  who  are  said 
in  their  Appendix  "H,"  not  to  have  purchased  of  the  College.  But 
that  a  careful  reader  may  not  discover  the  discrepancy,  the  list  now 
under  examination  gives  some  of  those  names  without  any  initials 
or  Christian  name  prefixed,  and  others  with  the  initials  changed 
from  those  of  the  real  purchaser.  Did  the  Committee  know  this 
when  they  published  that  list  of  names  ? 

(10.)  The  Committee  show  that  Congregationalists  paid  at  "  an 
early  day  "  for  "  farm-lands  "  above  $25,000.  The  treasury  books 
show  that  from  the  day  the  College  was  founded,  in  1836,  until  now, 
Congregationalists  have  paid  for  farm-lands  only  $14,520. 

(11.)  According  to  the  Committee  there  were  fifty-nine  who 
purchased  at  an  "  early  day "  to  "  start  the  College,"  only  ten  of 
whom  were  "original  Subscribers,"  as  appears  in  Appendix  "H." 


"RIGHTS  OF  CONGKEGATIONALISTS."  105 

The  College  treasury  shows  that  thirty  of  the  original  Subscribers 
became  purchasers  of  farm-lands,  and  then  that  the  whole  number 
of  purchasers,  including  these  thirty,  during  the  first,  fourteen  years 
of  the  College  was  not  as  great  as  that  given  by  this  Committee. 

(12.)  But,  say  the  Committee,  "  this  list  has  been  examined  by 
six  of  the  early  settlers,  men  of  standing  in  Galesburg,"  and  they 
"  certify  that  the  same  is,  according  to  their  best  knowledge  and 
belief,  correct."  Let  me  inform  the  Committee  of  what  some  of 
these  same  gentlemen  say  about  that  list.  They  indignantly  deny 
having  ever  certified  to  the  list  as  it  is  published  in  the  Report. 
They  were  asked  to  give  a  list  of  the  names  of  the  purchasers  of 
the  College  farm-lands  without  reference  to  the  time  of  the  pur- 
chase or  the  price  to  be  paid.  This  they  did  as  well  as  they  were 
able  without  any  documents,  and  trusting  to  their  memory,  which 
had  to  extend  over  a  period  of  more  than  twenty  years.  And  to 
such  a  list  they  appended  their  certificate.  That  list  was  changed 
in  several  important  respects  after  it  left  their  hands.  This  is  what 
some  of  these  gentlemen  declare,  and  this  statement  is  published  by 
permission  from  one  of  them.  No  effort  has  been  made  to  learn 
the  views  of  the  others,  but  my  knowledge  of  those  gentlemen 
leads  me  to  believe  that  none  of  them  certified  to  the  correctness  of 
the  list  in  the  form  published  by  the  Committee.  They  knew  that 
list  to  be  incorrect.  And  here  let  me  ask  this  Committee  why  they 
went  to  these  gentlemen  to  learn  who  had  bought  College  lands  at 
an  early  day  ?  Did  they  not  know  that  the  College  books  were  the 
proper  sources  of  information  on  that  point  ?  Did  not  such  a  gen- 
tleman as  C.  G.  Hammond,  Esq.,  who  manages  one  of  the  largest 
and  most  complicated  business  interests  of  this  country,  know  that 
it  was  sheer  folly  to  go  about  the  streets  of  Galesburg  asking  for 
information  as  to  who  bought  the  College  lands,  when  the  College 
Treasurer  was  in  possession  of  every  fact,  and  as  a  Congregational- 
ist  would  cheerfully  have  given  any  information  needed  ?  The  truth 
is,  the  Committee  simply  published  what  had  already  been  prepared 
for  them  by  another  party — and  the  man  who  prepared  the  materials 
of  that  Report  dared  not  go  to  the  College  books  for  facts.  All 
Galesburg  guesses  who  that  man  is. 

(13.)  Not  only  did  six  gentlemen  certify  to  the  correctness  of  the  list, 
but,  say  the  Committee,  it  was  "  drawn  from  the  county  records," 
it  is  a  "certified  abstract  from  the  county  records,  pp.  77,  24." 
If  this  were  so,  it  would  not  show  that  the  persons  there  named 


106  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

actually  bought  of  the  College  and  "  paid  the  money  "  to  the  Col- 
lege. Many  persons  here  have  deeds  from  the  College,  who  never 
paid  to  its  treasury  a  dollar.  This  has  already  been  explained.  But 
now  mark  what  follows  :  A  few  names  were  selected  from  the  Com- 
mittee's list,  enough  to  test  the  point  involved,  and  were  given  to  the 
County  Recorder,  who  was  directed  to  certify  under  the  seal  of  his 
office  whether  they  are  found  upon  the  county  records  as  purchasers 
of  farm  lands  from  the  College  at  any  time,  whether  at  an  "  early  " 
date  or  at  any  date.  This  is  his  certificate : 

"  STATE  OF  ILLINOIS,  ) 

Knox  County,  \  '  I,  Cephas  Arras,  Clerk  of  the  Circuit 
Court,  and  Ex-  Officio  Recorder  in  and  for  said  Knox  county,  do 
hereby  certify  that  the  names  of  Jones  Harding,  W.  E.  Holyoke,  Hugh 

Conger,  Sherman  Williams,  William  Lee, Button,  S.  Richardson 

and  W.  A.  Wood,  are  not  found  upon  the  Records  of  Knox  county,  as 
purchasers  of  farm-lands  from  the  Trustees  of  Knox  M.  L.  College. 
In  witness  thereof,  I  have  hereunto  affixed  my  name  and  the  seal 
of  said  office,  at  Knoxville,  this  9th  day  of  August,  A.  D.,  1859. 

CEPHAS  ARMS,  Clerk.     [SEAL.]  " 

Now,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  some  of  the  parties  named  by  the 
Recorder  did  buy  lands  of  the  College,  and  paid  the  money  for 
them ;  but  before  their  payments  were  completed,  they  sold  to  some 
one  else,  and  that  person  to  whom  they  sold  received  the  deed,  and 
his  name  is  the  one  that  will  be  found  on  the  county  records.  Our 
Committee,  however,  assert  that  the  foregoing  names  are  taken 
from  the  county  records.  The  certificate  of  the  Recorder  shows 
that  they  are  not  upon  those  records,  as  purchasers  from  the  College. 

(14.)  But  once  more,  say  this  sagacious  Committee,  the  list  is  not 
only  taken  from  the  county  records,  and  vouched  for  as  correct, 
by  "six  gentlemen  of  standing  in  Galesburg,"  but  it  is  also 
"  certified  to  be  correct  by  Thomas  N.  Ayres  &  Son,  Real  Estate 
Agents."  Read  now  what  Thomas  N.  Ayres  &  Son  say  on  that 

point : 

"  GALESBURG,  Jan.  17th,  1860. 

We  do  hereby  certify,  that  the  statement  of  the  '  purchasers  of 
farm-lands  from  Knox  College,'  purporting  to  have  been  certified 
to  by  Thomas  N.  Ayres  &  Son,  Real  Estate  Agents,  in  'Appendix 
R.,'  to  '  a  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Investigation  of  the  General 
Association  of  Illinois,'  entitled  '  Rights  of  Congregationalists  in 
Knox  College,'  is  materially  different  from  the  statement  furnished 
by  us,  heretofore,  to  Rev.  J.  Blanchard. 

AYRES,  BATES  &  Co., 
Successors  of  That.  N.  Ayres  &  Son." 


"EIGHTS  OF  CONGREGA.TIONALISTS."  107 

These  gentlemen  were  not  willing  to  risk  their  reputation  for 
business  accuracy,  by  allowing  the  statement  of  the  Committee 
concerning  them  to  go  uncorrected.  The  secret  is  all  oul,  too, 
through  their  certificate,  as  to  who  furnished  the  Committee  with 
their  extraordinary  list  of  names !  That  list  is  incorrect  in  every 
essential  respect.  Yet  upon  that  list  of  names  is  built  up  almost 
the  whole  argument  in  behalf  of  the  "  Rights  of  Congregationalists 
in  Knox  College."  In  leaving  this  part  of  the  Report,  I  must  say 
that  I  know  not  whether  to  wonder  most  at  the  audacity  of  the 
man  who  ventured  to  impose  that  statement  upon  such  men  as  com- 
posed this  Committee,  or  at  the  unaccountable  credulity  of  the 
Committee  in  receiving  it.  No  "  camel "  appears  to  have  been  too 
great  for  their  receptive  powers,  provided  it  favored  their  cause. 
They  proved  every  statement,  they  say,  "paragraph  by  paragraph," 
and  yet  they  reported,  in  their  list  of  names,  that  of  Mr.  Blanchard, 
as  one  who  bought  of  the  College,  at  an  early  day,  at  five  dollars  an 
acre,  to  the  amount  of  $800,  which  he  paid,  to  "  start  the  College." 
Yet  Mr.  Blanchard  did  not  come  to  Galesburg  until  ten  years  after 
the  College  had  been  founded,  and  he  did  not  buy  any  of  its  lands 
until  almost  seven  years  after  he  came  here,  and  he  was  to  pay  for 
them  82,400,  at  $15  an  acre,  and  the  College  indorsed  upon  his 
unpaid  note,  as  a  donation,  two-thirds  of  the  whole  sum,  since  his 
removal  from  its  Presidency.  Truly  the  Committee  have  stated 
"  indubitable  facts ! " 

9.  I  have  already  called  the  reader's  attention  to  a  statement  of 
the  Committee,  respecting  the  value  of  the  donation  made  to  the 
College  by  Hon.  Charles  Phelps.  They  say,  p.  26,  that  donation 
was  "  estimated  to  be  worth  at  the  time  $30,000,"  and  it  now  con- 
stitutes "the  principal  part  of  the  College  endowment  of  over 
$300,000  !  "  I  have  shown  that  the  donation  was  not  estimated  to 
be  worth  $15,000  when  made,  and  that  it  is  not  yet  worth  $30,000. 
How  could  the  Committee  have  made  such  a  mistake  ? 

But  I  have  a  special  object  in  recalling  this  matter  at  this  time. 
When  the  Report  of  the  Committee  was  adopted  by  the  unanimous 
vote  of  the  General  Association,  there  were  present,  as  members  of 
the  Association,  according  to  its  Minutes,  the  following  Trustees  of 
the  College :  Rev.  F.  Bascom,  Rev.  W.  E.  Holyoke,  Rev.  S.  G. 
Wright,  Rev.  H.  Foote,  and  E.  Farnham,  Esq.  Now  these  five 
gentlemen  have  been  in  attendance  upon  all  the  meetings  of  the 
Board  of  the  College,  from  the  time  the  donation  of  Mr.  Phelps 


108  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

was  made,  to  the  present.  They  were  present  when  that  donation 
was  made.  The  College  records  show  this  to  be  true.  They  heard 
the  report  of  the  Treasurer  the  next  year,  1854,  when  he  gave  the 
value  of  that  donation  at  $20,356.95.  They  accepted  his  report,  at 
that  time,  as  true.  They  have  heard  his  annual  reports  from  that 
time  until  the  present  year.  Some  of  them  have  served  on  a  Com- 
mittee to  determine  the  manner  of  using  the  money  received  from 
the  sale  of  those  lands.  I  ask  these  gentlemen  how,  as  ministers  of 
the  Gospel,  and  Christian  men,  they  could  vote  for  the  Report  of 
the  Committee,  when  they  knew  that  part  of  it  relating  to  the 
Phelps  donation  to  be  so  untrue?  How  can  they  justify  themselves 
to  the  Commitee,  saying  nothing  of  the  public,  for  allowing  them 
to  fall  into  so  immense  an  error?  Are  we  to  think  that  they  are 
willing  to  allow  any  statement,  however  untrue,  to  go  forth  to  the 
public,  that  will  damage  Knox  College,  and  the  interests  of  Presby- 
terianism  ?  But  let  us  view  the  matter  from  another  stand-point.  In 
less  than  four  weeks  after  these  Trustees  had  voted  for  the  Report 
of  the  Committee  in  the  Association,  and  directed  it  to  be  "  printed 
and  distributed,"  they  met  in  Galesburg,  in  the  annual  meeting  of 
the  College  Board.  At  that  meeting,  the  Treasurer  presented  his 
annual  report,  in  which  he  gave,  as  an  item  by  itself,  the  present 
value  of  the  Phelps  donation  at  $26,272.15. 

This  report  was  accepted  without  a  word  of  objection.  Yet 
according  to  the  Report  of  the  Committee,  for  which  these  five 
Trustees  had  only  a  few  days  before  voted,  the  Treasurer  made  the 
enormous  mistake  of  at  least  $300,000,  in  his  estimate  of  the  value 
of  the  Phelps'  donation.  Did  these  Trustees  charge  him  with  this 
mistake  ?  Did  they  object  to  the  Report  on  that  account  ?  Did  they, 
as  honest  guardians  of  a  great  trust,  inquire  at  all,  what  had  become 
of  the  "  munificent  bequest  of  the  late  Hon.  Charles  Phelps,  now 
constituting  the  principal  part  of  the  College  endowment,  of  over 
$300,000  "?  Not  a  word  of  the  kind  was  heard  from  one  of  them. 
Yet  the  published  Report  of  the  Committee,  containing  these  errors, 
was  very  busily  circulated  during  that  meeting  of  the  Board,  and  at 
the  Commencement  exercises  of  the  College. 

10.  On  page  51  of  the  Report  is  a  certificate,  signed  by  Mr.  Blan- 
chard  and  seven  Congregational  Trustees  of  the  College,  that  in 
1854  a  "  compromise  resolution"  was  adopted  by  the  united  votes 
of  the  whole  Board,  "binding the  Board,  in  all  future  elections,  to 
abstain  from  any  party  action."  But,  say  they,  when  the  party 


"BIGHTS  OF  CONGREGATIONALISTS."  109 

opposed  to  Mr.  Blanchard  "  obtained  an  accidental  majority  they 
denied  the  force  of  the  said  resolution,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  vio- 
late it  by  the  election  of  men  to  the  Board  by  a  strictly  party  vote." 

Now,  since  1854  there  have  been  but  two  Trustees  elected  to  the 
Board,  viz. :  C.  M.  Pomroy  and  Thomas  G.  Frost.  On  examining 
the  College  records,  I  find  the  following  minutes  respecting  these 
elections :  "  Voted,  that  the  place  of  Peter  Butler  (a  Baptist,)  in 
this  Board,  be  declared  vacant."  "  Several  names  were  proposed, 
and  voted  upon,  without  effecting  an  election,  when  a  recess  of 
fifteen  minutes  was  taken  for  consultation"  "  After  the  expiration 
of  the  time  above  named,  the  members  again  took  their  seats,  when 
Mr.  Browning  nominated  Caleb  M.  Pomroy,  of  Quincy,  (a  Baptist,) 
who  was  then  unanimously  elected  a  Trustee  of  Knox  College." 
"This  was  in  1856.  In  1858,  Mr.  S.  Ferris  resigned  his  place  as  a 
Trustee.  His  place,  according  to  the  records,  was  filled  as  follows  : 
"  Thomas  G.  Frost  was  then  nominated  and  unanimously  elected  a 
Trustee  of  Knox  College."  So  much  for  the  violation  of  a  com- 
promise "by  the  election  of  men  to  the  Board  by  a  strictly  party 
vote."  The  only  two  men  elected,  have  been  elected  by  the  votes 
of  the  whole  Board. 

The  same  Trustees,  who  gave  the  above  certificate,  have  also,  on 
pp.  51,  52,  certified  that  the  party  opposed  to  Mr.  Blanchard,  did,  in 
1849,  leave  a  meeting  of  the  Board,  in  order  to  deprive  it  of  a 
quorum — and  that  in  1857  they  absented  themselves  from  another 
meeting,  for  the  same  purpose.  They  certify,  also,  that  "  we  (the 
Congregationalists)  proposed  to  them  (the  rest  of  the  Board)  that 
we  would  vote  for  a  non-sectarian  President,  such  as  Rev.  Asa  D. 
Smith,  D.  D.,  which  proposition  they  refused  to  accept."  Dear 
reader,  did  you  ever  think  why  Paul  joined  together  those  two 
asseverations,  "I  speak  the  truth  and  lie  not"? 

As  a  commentary  thereon,  notice  these  facts  :  The  meetings  in 
1849  and  in  1857,  were  broken  up  in  the  manner  certified.  But  from 
the  honest  indignation  which  these  gentlemen,  who  sign  the  certifi- 
cate, express  for  such  acts,  do  you  not  understand  them  to  claim 
entire  exemption  from  all  acts  of  the  same  kind  ?  Yet,  in  October, 
1857,  they  absented  themselves  a  whole  day  from  a  meeting  of  the 
Board,  solely  in  order  to  prevent  the  election  of  Rev.  Dr.  Thompson, 
of  Buffalo,  as  President  of  the  College. 

It  is  true,  also,  that  they  did  offer  to  elect  Rev.  A.  D.  Smith,  D.D., 
but  that  was  in  1858,  when  Dr.  Curtis'  name  was  before  them  for 


110  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

election,  and  when  they  knew  that  Dr.  Smith  had,  long  before,  posi- 
tively refused  to  be  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  and  when  they 
had,  the  year  before,  being  then  a  majority,  voted  to  lay  on  the  table 
the  motion  to  elect  Dr.  Smith  1 

11.  The  Congregational  Trustees  complain  that  the  other  parties 
in  the  Board  have  violated  a  "  compromise  resolution,"  which,  they 
claim,  bound  "  the  Board,  in  all  future  elections,  to  abstain  from 
any  party  action."     No  compromise  resolution  having  such  a  sense 
as  they  put  upon  it,  has  ever  been  passed  by  the  Board.     But  if 
such  a  resolution  had  been  passed,  I  leave  the  reader  to  judge  for 
himself  which  party  has  violated  it,  by  "  party  action,"  after  recall- 
ing the  fact  that  the  Congregationalists  have  been  a  party,  by  them- 
selves, in  the  Board,  during  all  the  attempts  of  the  Board  to  fill  the 
vacancies  occasioned  by  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Blanchard  and  Mr. 
Gale.     They  rejected  Doctors  Smith,  and  Allen,  and  Condit,  and 
Barnes,  and  Thompson,  and  voted  against  Dr.  Curtis  on  no  other 
ground  than  that  they  were  Presbyterians.     They  were  the  only 
party  who  were  composed  of  men  of  one  denomination,  and  no 
more.     And  yet,  with  amazing  blindness,  they  charge  "  party  ac- 
tion "  and  "  intense  sectarianism,"  upon  all  the  other  members  of 
the  Board,  who  represent  four  different  denominations. 

12.  The  Committee   are  equally  determined  to  prove  that  the 
majority  of  the  Board  are  wretchedly  "sectarian,"  although  it  num- 
bers, among  its  members,  a  Baptist,  an  Episcopalian,  and  both  Old 
and  New  School  Presbyterians,     They,  however,  very  conveniently 
style  them  all  New  School  Presbyterians,   and  then,  by  a  sort  of 
Aristotelian  process,  prove  them  to  be  sectarian,  because,  as  they 
assert,  the  whole  denomination  is  so.     In  this  line  of  argument  they 
refer  to  the  recent  "  unanimous  votes  in  the  General  Assembly,  on 
the  subjects  of    Church  Extension,   Church  Erection,  Home  and 
Foreign  Missions,  the  Publication  of  books  and  tracts,  and  Minis- 
terial  Education."     This  "sectarian   spirit,"  the  Committee  say, 
"has  led  to  the  establishment  of  sectarian  Presbyterian  Colleges,  in 
this  and  contiguous  States,"  and  to  a  determination  "  to  institute  a 
Theological  Seminary  for  themselves  alone."     Saying  nothing  of  the 
logic  or  the  truthfulness  of  this  part  of  the  Report,  one  must  suppose, 
from  the  pious  horror  with  which  they  announce  the  above  misdeeds 
of  the  New  School  Presbyterian  Church,  that  the  Committee  have 
never  heard  of  any  exclusively  Congregational  plans  for  Church 
Erection  or  Church  Extension,  or  Publication,  and  the  like.     They 


"EIGHTS  or  CONGREGATION ALISTS."  Ill 

have,  doubtless,  never  heard  of  the  "  Illinois  Home  Missionary  As- 
sociation," whose  Corresponding  Secretary  is  Rev.  W.  W.  Patton, 
which  last  fact  is  sufficient  proof  that  it  is  a  Congregational  Society. 
They  never  have  heard  of  the  Congregational  "  American  Mission- 
ary Association  "  for  Foreign  Missions.     They  never  have  heard  of 
"  Church  Erection  Funds  "  contributed  by  their  own  denomination, 
and  solely  for  their  own  use.     They  are  no  doubt  totally  ignorant  of 
the  existence  of  the  "  Congregational  Board  of  Publication."     They 
are  not  aware  of  any  exclusively  Congregational  Colleges,  in  Iowa, 
and  in  other  parts  of  the  West,  saying  nothing  of  a,  few  Institutions, 
belonging  to  their  denomination,  in  that  remote  region  of  our  land, 
which  the  Committee  may  have  heard  about,  by  the  name  of  New 
England.     And  this  Committee,   certainly,  are  not  yet  informed  of 
the   fact,   that  Congregation alists  have  instituted   "  a  Theological 
Seminary  for  themselves  alone"  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  and  that  its 
library  has  pledged  for  its  benefit  all  "  the  net  profits!"  of  that  pre- 
eminently non-sectarian  paper,  the  Congregational  Herald,  whose 
principal  editor  is  the  Chairman  of  our  Committee !     I  hope  this 
Committee  may  become  informed  of  these  facts  before  they  expend 
any  more  indignation  about  the  "  sectarianism  "  of  the  New  School 
Presbyterian  Church.     As  containing  a  full  reply  to  all  this  mere 
verbiage  of  the  Committee  about  sectarianism,  I  commend  to  them 
these  words   of   an  inspired   Apostle :     "  Wherein    thou   judgest 
another,  thou  condemnest  thyself,  for  thou  that  judgest  doest  the 
same  things." 

Before  dismissing  this  matter  I  must  ask  the  reader's  attention  to 
the  following  facts :  Congregationalists  have  the  President,  nearly 
all  the  Faculty,  and  at  least  an  equal  number,  if  not  a  majority  of  the 
Trustees  of  Beloit  College.  They  have  the  President  and  their  full 
share  of  the  Faculty  and  Trustees  of  Illinois  College.  They  have  a 
majority  of  the  Faculty,  and  a  larger  number  of  Trustees  than  New 
School  Presbyterians  have,  in  Knox  College,  Yet,  solely  because 
they  cannot  have  the  entire  control  of  Knox  College,  they  wage  a 
furious  war  upon  it.  They  have  entertained,  in  their  Association, 
proposals  from  the  Wesleyan  Methodists,  to  receive  as  their  own, 
and  build  up  the  Wheaton  Institute;  and  Mr.  Blanchard  has, 
through  their  agency,  been  appointed  its  President,  and  has  already 
entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  office.  This  Wheaton  Institute  is 
twenty-five  miles  west  of  Chicago — has  no  endowment — and  but 
little  more  than  twenty  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  property  of  all 


112  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

kinds.  It  is  in  the  center  of  a  region  which  embraces  the  Baptist 
University — the  Methodist  Institutions  at  Evanston — Lind  Univer- 
sity.— and  Beloit,  and  Knox,  and  Illinois  Colleges.  A  College  at 
Wheaton  is  not  demanded  by  any  public  interests  whatever — it  can 
be  sustained  and  endowed  only  by  extraordinary  efforts — and  if  it 
should  ever  be  successful  it  must  be  at  the  expense  of  at  least  some 
one  of  the  Colleges  that  so  closely  encircle  it,  in  which  Congrega- 
tionalists  are  already  interested.  No  reason  whatever  exists  for 
building  up  that  Institution,  except  that  it  will  enable  these  "  co- 
operative "  Congregationalists,  who  have  such  a  large  share  in  the 
control  of  so  many  other  Colleges,  to  call  one  College  exclusively 
their  own.  If  they  think  it  wise  to  do  this,  no  one  objects.  But 
for  the  sake  of  common  sense  as  well  as  of  honesty,  while  they  are 
doing  this,  let  them  give  up  this  whining  cant  about  "  sectarianism." 
13.  Having  proved  that  the  whole  New  School  General  Assembly 
is  sectarian,  and  that  therefore  the  majority  of  the  Trustees  of  Knox 
College  are  so,  the  Committee  next  proceed  to  establish  the  same 
conclusion,  by  reporting  what  the  Rev.  Mr.  Spencer,  and  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Patterson,  of  Chicago,  have  said  about  the  College,  although 
neither  of  these  gentlemen  have  anything  to  do  with  its  control.  In 
the  Appendix  to  the  Report,  letter  "  G,"  is  this  statement : 

"Rev.  L.  H.  Parker,  of  Galesburg,  testified  before  the  Committee 
as  follows:  '  Last  spring  I  was  at  Geneseo,  in  my  capacity  as  Trustee 
of  the  Academy  in  that  place.  There  were  propositions  under  con- 
sideration, with  reference  to  its  coming  under  the  distinctive  control 
of  N.  S.  Presbyterians.  I  met  there  Rev.  Mr.  Spencer — N.  S.  Presby- 
terian minister,  now  resident  in  Chicago — who  said  that  it  was  now 
the  design  and  settled  policy  of  his  denomination  to  bring  all  the 
schools,  academies  and  colleges,  in  which  they  were  interested,  under 
their  distinctive  ecclesiastical  control.  In  accomplishing  this,  Knox 
College,  he  remarked,  had  given  them  more  trouble  than  any  other 
institution.'" 

Truly,  "ambition"  is  not  the  only  thing  that  "o'erleaps  itself." 
I  suppose  every  reader,  unless  it  be  the  Rev.  L.  H.  Parker,  knows 
exactly  what  is  meant  by  "  distinctive  ecclesiastical  control."  A 
College  would  be  under  "  ecclesiastical  control "  when  controlled 
directly  by  a  religious  denomination,  or  by  Trustees  elected  by  a 
religious  denomination.  The  Congregational  Theological  Seminary 
of  Chicago  is  an  instance  of  such  control.  But  Knox  College  is, 
by  its  Charter,  a  close  corporation,  a  self-perpetuating  body,  which 
appoints  within  itself  all  its  Trustees,  and  therefore  cannot  possibly 
be  under  "ecclesiastical  control."  Mr.  Parker  knew  this  well 


"  EIGHTS   OF   CON  GREG  ATIONALISTS."  113 

enough.  But  in  his  anxiety  to  prove  something  against  the  College, 
he  has  proved  too  much.  Mr.  Spencer  could  hardly  have  talked 
about  the  actual  "  accomplishment "  of  the  purpose  of  Presbyterians 
to  bring  Knox  College  under  "distinctive,  ecclesiastical  control." 
The  thing  is  simply  impossible,  even  if  there  were  such  a  desire. 
Mr.  Parker  will  do  well  to  refresh  his  "ecclesiastical"  knowledge, 
before  he  gives  another  certificate  about  "ecclesiastical  control." 
But  alas !  for  the  Committee,  Mr.  Spencer  denies  having  said  what 
Mr.  Parker  has  attributed  to  him.  In  a  letter  written  to  me  on  this 
subject,  during  the  past  summer,  Mr.  Spencer  says : 

"I  am  constrained  to  contradict  the  very  explicit  testimony  of  the 
Rev.  L.  H.  Parker.  I  did  not  say  that  it  was  now  the  design  and 
settled  policy  of  my  denomination  to  bring  all  the  schools,  and  acad- 
emies, and  colleges,  in  which  we  are  interested,  under  our  ecclesiastical 
control.  I  knew  that  such  a  statement  would  be  false.  The  subject  of 
bringing  existing  co-operative  institutions  under  ecclesiastical  con- 
trol was  not  mentioned.  I  was  opposed  to  entering  into  any  co- 
operative arrangement  to  sustain  Geneseo  Academy,  and  gave  it  as 
my  opinion  that  such  efforts  would  in  future  be  discountenanced. 
The  only  reference  to  Knox  College  made  by  me,  was  to  discourage 
the  idea  that  a  similar  union  of  denominations  might  sustain 
Geneseo  Academy.  A  frank  opposition  to  a  union  effort  in  the  case 
of  that  Academy,  based  upon  a  somewhat  troublesome  co-operative 
experience  in  Knox  College,  was  a  very  natural  occurrence.  The 
difficulties  in  Knox  College  were  referred  to  merely  as  a  warning 
against  future  efforts  of  that  kind.  It  is  of  no  importance,  whatever, 
to  correct  Mr.  Parker's  misapprehension  of  my  personal  views  on 
this  subject.  But  as  one  of  three  men  chosen  to  prove  the  exist- 
ence of  a  '  settled '  denominational  '  policy,'  concerning  all  schools, 
academies  and  colleges,  in  which  New  School  Presbyterians  are 
interested,  it  is  important  for  me  to  deny  that  I  ever  said  there  is 
such  a  policy  as  Mr.  Parker  speaks  of,  or  that  this  was  the  cause  of 
the  troubles  at  Knox  College.  w  R  SPENCER." 

Fearing  that  Mr.  Parker  might  not  be  a  witness  of  sufficient 
"  standing,"  the  Committee  next  introduce  Rev.  Edward  Beecher, 
D.  P.,  who  is  made  to  testify  as  follows : 

"Before  the  election  of  Dr.  Curtis  to  the  Presidency,  I  had  an  in- 
terview with  Rev.  Dr.  Patterson  of  Chicago,  to  see  whether  some 
investigation  of  facts,  or  reference  to  arbitrators,  or  basis  of  adjust- 
ment, could  not  be  secured  prior  to  any  election  by  the  Board  of 
Trust.  But  such  an  effort  at  an  accommodation  of  differences  was 
wholly  objected  to  and  refused,  both  by  Dr.  P.  and  by  Dr.  Gale. 
Dr.  P.  asserted  that  the  College  belonged  to  the  N.  S.  Presbyte- 
rians, and  that  they  ought  to  have  the  entire  control  of  it." 
8 


114:  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

Now  if  the  above  statement  were  in  all  particulars  correct,  yet  it 
may  well  be  asked  what  Dr.  Beecher  had  to  do  with  these  affairs  of 
Knox  College  ?  He  had  no  connection  with  the  College  whatever. 
He  was  not  one  of  its  Trustees.  He  was  not  commissioned  by  its 
Board  to  intercede  with  Dr.  Patterson  or  anyone  else  in  their  behalf. 
The  Board  were  about  to  elect  a  President.  Dr.  Beecher  attempted 
to  prevent  it.  Why  ?  Solely  because  they  were  about  to  elect  a 
Presbyterian.  As  long  as  there  was  any  hope  of  securing  a  Con- 
gregation alist  as  President,  Dr.  Beecher  never  thought  any  "  investi- 
gation of  facts  "  necessary.  His  proposal  now  was  merely  an  attempt 
to  delay  present  action  by  the  Board,  and  thus,  of  course,  get  rid  of 
Dr.  Curtis  as  a  candidate,  as  had  been  done  with  other  candidates. 
Bnt  again,  why  appeal  to  Dr.  Patterson  ?  He  had  nothing  to  do 
with  the  control  of  the  College.  All  who  know  him  know  that  he 
would  not  dictate  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  what  their  action  should 
be,  even  with  the  example  of  Dr.  Beecher  to  encourage  him.  Dr. 
Patterson  does  know,  if  Dr.  Beecher  does  not,  what  the  rights  of  a 
Board  of  Trustees  like  that  of  Knox  College  are,  and  he  would  be 
the  last  man  to  attempt  to  control  such  a  Board  by  outside  pressure. 
Let  us  hear,  however,  what  Dr.  Patterson  says  concerning  the  truth 
of  Dr.  Beecher's  statement. 

"PROF.  J.  W.  BAILEY: 

Dear  Bro. — In  the  pamphlet  entitled  '  Rights  of  Congrega- 
tionalists  in  Knox  College,'  p.  56,  I  find  a  statement  from  Dr. 
Edward  Beecher,  in  which  a  report  is  given  of  a  conversation  be- 
tween Dr.  B.  and  myself,  that  is  truly  surprising.  Dr.  B.  represents 
that  he  proposed  to  me  a  reference  of  the  difficulties  in  Knox  College, 
to  arbitrators ;  but  that  '  such  an  effort  at  an  accommodation  of 
differences  was  wholly  objected  to  and  refused,  both  by  Dr.  P.  and 
by  Dr.  Gale.'  Dr.  B.  then  adds,  as  an  explanation  of  the  ground 
on  which  I  'refused  such  an  effort  at  accommodation,'  that  '  Dr. 
P.  asserted  that  the  College  belonged  to  the  N.  S.  Presbyterians, 
and  that  they  ought  to  have  the  entire  control  of  it? 

I  am  sorry  to  be  obliged  to  pronounce  these  representations  utter- 
ly iintrue.  The  facts  are  as  follows :  A  few  months  after  Presi- 
dent Blan chard,  by  request  of  the  Board,  resigned,  Dr.  Beecher 
came  to  Chicago  and  delivered  a  public  lecture  on  the  affairs  of 
Knox  College,  which  abounded  in  bitter  denunciations  of  the  major- 
ity of  the  Board,  and  of  Dr.  Gale  in  particular.  This  lecture  I 
heard.  On  the  next  day  after  its  delivery  Dr.  B.  called  on  me,  and 
introduced  the  subject  of  his  lecture,  laboring,  as  I  thought,  under 
great  mental  excitement.  He  asked  what  I  would  think  of  a  refer- 
ence of  the  difficulties  in  the  College  to  arbitrators,  with  a  view  to 


"EIGHTS  OF  CONGREGATION ALISTS."  115 

some  accommodation  of  diffei/ences.  I  replied,  that  I  thought  his 
lecture  was  a  very  unfortunate  preparation  for  such  an  accommoda- 
tion, adding,  that  the  College  was  wholly  under  the  control  of  its 
legally  constituted  Board  of  Trust,  and  that  it  appeared  to  me  that 
we  in  Chicago  wonld  be  guilty  of  impertinence  in  attempting  to 
interfere  with  its  affairs,  unless  the  Board  should  request  our  coun- 
sel or  interposition.  This  is  the  substance  of  all  that  I  said  on  that 
point,  and  Dr.  B.  knows  it  perfectly  well.  After  that  point  was 
passed  in  the  conversation,  I  remarked,  that  I  did  not  think  it  possi- 
ble to  maintain  an  exact  balance  in  a  Board  of  College  Trustees  be- 
tween two  religious  denominations,  and  that  if  one  denomination 
must  have  a  majority,  it  should  be  that  one  which  had  done  the 
most  to  found  the  institution,  as  was  very  properly  true  in  the  case 
of  Beloit  College,  on  the  Congregational  side.  I  added  that,  as  I 
understood  the  facts,  the  Presbyterians  would  be  entitled,  on  this 
principle,  to  a  majority  in  the  Board  of  Knox  College.  At  the 
same  time  I  said,  and  repeated  the  remark,  that  no  one,  so  far  as  I 
knew,  wished  that  the  Presbyterians  should  have  '  the  entire  control ' 
of  the  College;  that  the  Oongregationalists  ought  to  be  liberally  re- 
presented in  the  Board,  etc.  But  I  reminded  Dr.  B.  that  the  Con- 
gregation alists  had,  as  yet,  more  Trustees  than  the  Presbyterians, 
after  all  the  noise  that  had  been  made  about  the  revolutionizing  of 
the  College. 

I  am  confident  that  the  statements  which  I  now  make  are  correct, 
both  from  my  own  distinct  recollection  and  from  the  confirmatory 
recollection  of  another  person  who  was  present.  I  can  only  account 
for  Dr.  Beecher's  egregious  errors  in  the  '  testimony  '  which  he  has 
given  touching  this  matter,  by  attributing  them  to  his  extraordinary 
mental  excitement,  which  must  have  led  to  some  strange  confusion 
in  his  thoughts  and  impressions.  It  may  be  proper  to  add  here, 
that  I  know  of  no  man  in  our  Church  who  desires  or  would  consent 
to  the  exclusion  of  Congregationalists  from  participation  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  Knox  College  or  of  any  other  Institution  which  has 
been  established  in  any  measure  on  the  'co-operative'  principle. 
I  have  known  Rev.  W.  H.  Spencer  intimately  for  many  years,  and 
I  am  sure  that  he  entertains  no  such  views  or  feelings  as  have  been 
attributed  to  him  by  Rev.  L.  H.  Parker.  Our  experience  has  led 
us  to  doubt  the  expediency  of  establishing  any  new  Institutions  on 
the  co-operative  basis.  But  we  are  for  keeping  all  engagements, 
already  made,  in  good  faith. 

Very  truly  yours, 

CHICAGO,  Aug.  1,  1859."  R.  W.  PATTERSON". 

This  letter  of  Dr.  Patterson  was  written  last  summer.  The 
Report  of  the  Committee  had  then  been  doing  its  work  of  misrepre- 
senting him  for  more  than  two  months.  No  word,  however,  had 
come  from  Dr.  Beecher  correcting  or  in  any  way  modifying  the 
statement  ascribed  to  him  in  that  Report.  No  such  word  has  yet 


116  KNOX    COLLEGE. 

come  from  him,  so  as  to  reach  the  public  ear.  That,  of  course, 
could  not  be  expected  of  him  if  he  actually  made  the  statement 
which  the  Committee  ascribe  to  him.  But  now  mark  what  follows : 
In  October  last,  the  Synod  of  Peoria  met  in  Galesbui-g,  and  then 
Dr.  Patterson  had  an  opportunity  of  meeting  Dr.  Beecher  face  to 
face,  and  of  inquiring  of  him  on  what  grounds  he  had  made  such  a 
statement  concerning  him.  The  results  of  that  interview  will  be 
seen  in  the  following  letter  : 

"REV.  J.  W.  BAILEY:  Dear  Brother — I  have  recently  had  an 
interview  with  Dr.  Beecher.  He  assures  me  that  the  document  put 
forth  as  his  '  testimony,'  was  never  submitted  to  his  inspection,  or 
read  to  him,  before  its  publication ;  and  that  he  never  intended  to 
make  such  statements  as  it  attributes  to  him.  As  I  understand  him, 
he  and  I  do  not  differ  much  as  to  the  substance  of  his  former  con- 
versation or  conversations  with  me  respecting  Knox  College.  So 
much  the  worse  for  the  framers  of  the  document  which  appears  in 
the  pamphlet  as  Dr.  Beecher's  testimony. 

Yours  truly, 

CHICAGO,  Nov.  1,  1859."  R.  "W.   PATTERSON. 

So  much  for  the  "indubitable  facts"  contained  in  the  Report 
drawn  up  by  Rev.  W.  W.  Patton,  signed  as  true  by  himself  and  the 
other  members  of  the  Committee  associated  with  him,  and  adopted 
and  published  by  the  "  unanimous  "  vote  of  the  whole  Congrega- 
tional General  Association  of  Illinois  and  scattered  over  the  whole 
country ! 

14.  It  would  have  been  most  grateful  to  my  feelings  had  the 
Report  which  I  am  examining  permitted  me  to  close  my  work  with- 
out any  special  statements  respecting  Rev.  Edward  Beecher,  D.  D. 
The  Committee,  however,  have  not  left  me  the  privilege  of  remain- 
ing entirely  silent  concerning  him,  unless,  indeed,  I  consent  to  leave 
some  important  interests  of  the  College  to  suffer  through  their  ex- 
travagant laudation  of  him  for  his  open  and  long-continued  warfare 
upon  it.  The  Committee  have  not  been  content  to  assert  their 
belief  in  his  good  intentions  while  he  was  engaged  two  years  ago 
in  breathing  out  threatenings  and  slaughter  against  the  majority  of 
the  College  Board  and  all  their  supporters,  but  they  have,  with 
evident  relish  for  such  work  as  his,  pronounced  his  whole  course  of 
personal  denunciations  "  a  defense  of  the  highest  interests  of  the 
College  and  community — yea,  of  religion  and  morality."  This 
Committee  are  of  the  opinion  that  "  the  spirit  displayed  by  Dr. 
Beecher  in  his  statements  and  arguments  "  against  the  College  Board 


"RIGHTS  OF  CONGREGATIONALISTS."  117 

"  was  eminently  Christian."  They  have  fnlly  sanctioned  all  that  he 
has  written  against  the  College.  Dr.  Beecher  has  also  re-affirmed 

o  o 

all  his  former  statements,  and  renewed  all  his  denunciations,  by 
voting  in  the  Association  for  the  Report  of  the  Committee.  He  thus 
virtually  challenges  criticism. 

Dr.  Beecher  came  to  Galesburg  about  five  years  ago,  and  took 
charge  of  a  new  Church  just  organized  for  him — the  "First  Congre- 
gational Church  of  Galesburg."  He  has  never  been  connected  with 
Knox  College  in  any  manner,  either  as  a  member  of  its  Faculty  or 
its  Board  of  Trustees.  His  public  championship  of  Mr.  Blanchard 
and  the  Congregational  minority  of  the  Board,  in  1857,  was  wholly 
voluntary.  He  was  a  "passerby"  and  "meddled  with  strife  not 
belonging  to  him,"  and  I  apprehend  has  had  abundant  reason  since 
then  to  believe  in  the  truth  of  the  Proverb  which  announces  the 
unfortunate  results  of  such  intermeddling:  (Prov.  26:  17.) 

He  was  not  content  to  discuss  principles  and  questions  of  policy, 
but  he  set  himself  resolutely  to  the  work  of  damaging  the  character 
•of  every  man  in  the  Board  who  voted  for  the  resignation  of  Mr. 
Blanchard.  After  the  removal  of  Mr.  Blanchard,  the  Board  ap- 
pointed Rev.  Mr.  Gale  to  visit  the  East  and  secure  a  candidate  for 
the  office  of  President.  Before  he  reached  New  York  City,  Dr. 
Beecher  sent  a  communication  to  the  Independent,  which  was  pub- 
lished, warning  the  public  not  to  place  confidence  in  Mr.  Gale,  whose 
conduct  in  removing  Mr.  Blanchard,  he  charged  as  "  unwise,  dis- 
honorable and  unjust."  He  aimed  to  prevent  the  success  of  Mr. 
Gale's  mission  by  a  distinct  announcement,  that  any  one  who  should 
consent  to  become  President  of  the  College,  would  "involve  himself 
in  a  conflict  with  the  moral  sense  of  the  whole  body  of  students  and  the 
community  in  Galesburg."  He  represented  his  views  as  those  that 
were  shared  by  "a  very  large  majority  of  the  entire  community  "  in 
this  place. 

How  truly  he  represented  the  community  here  may  be  gathered 
from  the  fact,  that  the  four  leading  Evangelical  Pastors  of  this  place, 
representing  as  many  different  denominations,  immediately  sent  to 
the  Eastern  papers  a  card,  in  which  they  declared  that  Dr.  Beecher's 
statement  in  the  Independent  was  not  true  of  themselves,  nor,  as 
they  believed,  of  any  considerable  portion  of  their  fellow-citizens. 
Dr.  Beecher,  not  content  with  this  attack  upon  Mr.  Gale,  while  he 
was  abroad  upon  a  mission  for  the  College,  next  prepared  a  long  and 
labored  document,  in  which  the  majority  of  the  College  Board,  and 


118  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

Mr.  Gale  in  particular,  were  denounced  in  such  terms  as  I  trust  only 
Dr.  Beecher  knows  how  to  use.  His  address  was  published  and  scat- 
tered wide-spread  through  the  land.  The  secret  motive  of  all  his 
violence  maybe  guessed  from  the  following  sentences  in  his  address: 
"President  Blanchard,  by  resigning  his  office,  of  course  ceased  to  be  a 
Trustee;  and  this  act  destroyed  the  balance  of  power,  and  by  the 
substitution  of  a  Presbyterian  President,  would  give  the  College 
wholly  into  the  hands  of  Presbyterians."  "  It  was  simply  a 
proposition  that  President  Blanchard  and  the  Congregation alists 
should  lose  all  power,  and  that  Mr.  Gale  and  the  Presbyterians 
should  gain  all  power  in  the  Institution."  The  awful  spectre  that 
so  frightened  him  was  a  "  Presbyterian  President."  Twelve  Con- 
gregationalists,  including  the  President,  and  nine  New  School 
Presbyterians  constituted  a  very  equitable  "  balance  of  power." 
The  substitution  of  a  "  Presbyterian  President "  was  a  jarring  of  the 
"balance"  which  too  greatly  shocked  the  "moral  sensibilities"  of 
the  author  of  the  "  Conflict  of  Ages."  The  reader  may  infer  the 
character  of  his  address  from  the  impressions  produced  by  it  upon 
those  who  heard  it.  It  was  first  delivered  to  an  audience  of  nearly 
a  thousand  persons  in  Galesburg.  During  the  two  hours  spent  in 
its  delivery  there  was  no  token  of  approval,  from  first  to  last,  from 
that  great  assembly.  On  the  contrary,  many  a  man  there  hung  his 
head  with  sorrow  at  such  an  address  from  such  a  man.  When  the 
address  was  ended  there  was  no  demonstration  in  its  favor.  But 
when  a  son  of  Mr.  Gale  arose,  and  in  behalf  of  his  father,  who  was 
yet  absent  for  the  College,  denounced  the  address  as  false  and  slan- 
derous, then  almost  the  whole  assembly  burst  forth  in  long  continued 
applause.  When  quiet  was  restored,  a  friend  of  Dr.  Beecher  moved 
that  the  audience  return  him  a  vote  of  thanks  for  his  address,  which 
motion  was  not  even  put  to  vote,  but  was  substituted  by  a  motion  to 
adjourn,  which  was  carried  by  a  very  large  majority.  In  this  man- 
ner did  a  Galesburg  audience  receive  this  "  eminently  Christian " 
address. 

Dr.  Beecher  next  went  to  Chicago,  to  deliver  the  same  address, 
determined  to  make  the  world  acquainted  with  the  "moral  assassi- 
nation" committed  by  the  majority  of  the  Board  of  Knox  College. 
Whether  his  address  appeared  to  be  at  all  personal  and  injurious  to 
the  character  of  those  whom  he  opposed,  may  be  gathered  from  the 
letter  of  Rev.  Dr.  Patterson  already  quoted,  and  also  from  the  fol- 


"EIGHTS  OF  CONGKEGATIONALISTS."  119 

lowing  remarks  made  by  the  editor  of  the  North-  Western  Christian 
Advocate,  in  that  paper,  under  date  of  August  5,  1857 : 

"We  were  a  little  surprised  and  humbled  that  this  address,  before  a 
public  audience,  should  be  made  up  so  largely  of  personal  matters. 
In  listening  to  Dr.  Beecher's  address  one  would  be  led  to  suppose 
that  the  parties  whose  conduct  he  described  were  isrnorant  of  t\\Q  first 
principles  of  New  Testament  religion.  Nor  would  we  conclude 
that  the  standard  of  civilization  and  morality  was  very  elevated. 
These  disclosures  are  indeed  painful,  nor  can  we  admire  Dr.  Beech- 
er's taste  in  thus  consenting  to  publish  the  in  from  the  house-top." 

This  is  the  impression  produced  by  the  address  upon  the  mind  of  a 
stranger,  concerning  the  majority  of  the  Board  of  Knox  College,  of 
whom  some  were  Presbyterian  ministers,  some  were  members  of 
Presbyterian,  Baptist  and  Episcopal  churches,  one  was  an  ex-mem- 
ber of  Congress,  another  was  one  of  the  most  eminent  lawyers  in 
the  State,  and  all  were  gentlemen  of  much  more  than  ordinary  in- 
telligence and  worth. 

Dr.  Beecher  delivered  his  address  in  several  of  the  towns  of 
Northern  Illinois  with  results  most  unfortunate  to  his  own  reputation. 
Even  when  men  did  not  doubt  the  truth  of  his  story,  it  was  a  ques- 
tion which  they  could  not  answer,  why  he  should  go  retailing  such 
matters  through  the  pulpits  of  the  State?  That  question  has  not 
been  satisfactorily  answered  to  this  day. 

He  went  also  to  Quincy,  and  rehearsed  the  address  in  a  Congre- 
gational Church  in  that  city.  Among  his  hearers  was  the  Honorable 
O.  H.  Browning,  who  resides  in  Quincy,  a  member  of  the  Board, 
and  one,  in  Dr.  Beecher's  opinion,  next  in  moral  depravity  to  Mr. 
Gale.  The  sagacious  Doctor,  knowing  his  auditor,  heroically  sup- 
pressed, as  he  admitted  afterward,  those  sentences  in  his  address 
that  were  most  offensively  personal  concerning  Mr.  Browning, 
which  he  had  delivered  everywhere  else.  When  his  address  was 
ended,  however,  the  friends  of.Mr.  Browning  requested  the  audience 
to  remain  to  hear  him  in  reply.  But  Dr.  Beecher  and  his  friends 
took  counsel  together,  and  decided  that  it  would  not  be  wise  to  allow 
Mr.  Browning  to  reply,  and  so  they  refused  the  use  of  the  house  for 
that  purpose,  and  the  audience  were  compelled  to  retire.  The  pas- 
tor of  that  church,  who  had  lent  his  pulpit  to  Dr.  Beecher  to  assail 
the  Board,  and  who  refused  even  the  floor  of  the  house  to  Mr. 
Browning,  a  Trustee  of  the  College,  for  a  reply,  was  one  of  the 
Congregational  members  of  the  College  Board.  The  impression 


120  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

produced  by  the  address  in  Quincy  will  be  gathered  from  the  following 
quotations  from  the  Daily  Republican  of  that  city.  In  speaking 
of  it,  the  editor  says : 

"  We  think  it  is  in  bad  taste  to  carry  this  matter  before  the  unin- 
terested public,  and  stir  up  a  bitter  controversy  between  denomina- 
tions when  it  can  do  no  good  whatever.  Who  is  President 
Blan chard,  that  he  should  create  such  petty  disturbances?  What  is 
Knox  College,  that  we  should  have  its  affairs  retailed  to  us  through 
the  press  and  from  the  pulpit,  in  a  manner  to  create  unhappy  feeling, 
where  nothing  but  kindness  and  calmness  should  exist  ?  Among 
those  who  seem  to  be  particularly  exercised  about  the  action  of  the 
Trustees,  is  Rev.  Dr.  Beecher,  of  Galesburg,  who  is  now  perambu- 
lating the  State,  stirring  up  this  feeling  in  the  churches.  Last 
evening  he  addressed  our  citizens  at  the  Center  Church,  on  the 
subject  of  the  difficulty,  and  in  defense  of  President  Blanchard.  In 
the  course  of  his  remarks,  we  are  told,  he  invited  an  answer,  but 
when  he  got  through,  that  privilege  was  refused  the  friends  of  the 
Trustees  of  Knox  College.  We  look  upon  this  discussion  as  one 
calculated  to  do  no  manner  of  good.  Let  it  be  settled  quietly  at 
home.  Do  not  bring  it  here  to  fret  and  torment  our  people,  and 
give  the  irreligious  occasion  for  their  scoffing  and  derisive  com- 
ments." 

The  same  paper  contained  a  communication  from  a  leading  citizen 
of  Quincy,  who  spoke  of  the  address  as  having  charged  Dr.  Gale 
"with  deception,  and  malice,  and  great  wickedness."  "Is  there 
any  man,"  asks  that  writer,  "not  absolutely  dead  to  every  senti- 
ment of  justice  and  honor,  that  does  not  condemn  this  lending  of  a 
church  for  the  purpose  of  defaming  a  minister  and  then  refusing  it 
for  his  defense  ?"  "  If  Professor  Gale  be  guilty  of  the  things 
charged  upon  him  last  evening,  he  is  liable,  on  conviction  before  his 
Presbytery,  to  be  deposed  from  the  ministry." 

1  have  stated  enough  to  show  that  wherever  Dr.  Beecher  de- 
livered his  address,  he  shocked  the  sensibilities  of  his  hearers  by  the 
violence  of  his  denunciations  of  the  College  Board,  and  of  Mr.  Gale 
in  particular.  Everywhere  he  gave  the  impression,  either  that  he 
was  himself  enraged  beyond  all  self-control,  or  else  that  those  whom 
be  denounced  were  men  of  much  more  than  common  depravity. 
To  believe  Dr.  Beecher  would  require  every  one,  in  his  own  lan- 
guage, "  utterly  to  abhor,  repudiate  and  condemn  "  the  majority  of 
the  Trustees  of  Knox  College. 

And  what  other  impression  could  be  produced  by  an  address  in 
which  such  language  as  the  following  abounds  :  "  Moral  degrada- 
tion and  the  anger  of  God,"  if  the  Trustees  are  not  resisted.  "  There 


"EIGHTS  OF  CONGREGATION ALISTS."  121 

is  no  one  thing  upon  which  God  looks  with  more  indignation  than 
upon  a  low  and  torpid  state  of  the  moral  sensibility  which  can  see 
and  tolerate  ATROCIOUS  acts  of  dishonor  and  injustice  without  re- 
monstrance or  rebuke,  and  continue  to  associate  and  co-operate 
with  their  authors,  as  if  the  performance  of  such  deeds,  unrepented 
of,  were  not  deserving  of  disgrace  and  infamy"  Will  the  reader 
think  for  a  moment  what  must  have  been  the  state  of  mind  of  this 
distinguished  clergyman,  when  he  could  characterise  the  action  of 
the  Trustees,  in  merely  requesting  a  man,  with  whom  they  were  not 
satisfied,  to  resign,  as  "  atrocious  acts  of  dishonor  and  injustice?" 
Was  that  word  "  atrocious  "  when  applied  to  such  men  "  eminently 
Christian?"  Was  it  no  assault  upon  them  to  go  through  thfe  pulpits 
of  the  State  and  into  the  public  press,  and  declare  that  they  were 
"deserving  of  disgrace  and  infamy?" 

Dr.  Beecher  sweeps  all  the  sympathizers  of  the  College  Board  to 
a  common  destruction  with  the  Trustees.  "They,"  he  says,  "who 
can  coolly  look  on  and  see  atrocious  deeds,"  by  which  he  means  the 
removal  of  Mr.  Blanchard,  and  nothing  else,  "  without  rebuke  and 
even  with  pleasure,  are  totally  rotten  and  corrupt.  Without  the 
poor  excuse  of  temptation,  and  from  their  own  inherent  baseness  and 
corruption,  they  take  pleasure  in  evil  for  its  own  sake."  This  lan- 
guage, when  uttered  in  plain  English,  refers  to  all  Presbyterians, 
Episcopalians,  Baptists,  and  others  who  think  Mr.  Blanchard  was 
wisely  and  righteously  removed  from  office  by  their  representa- 
tives in  the  Board.  "  Now  these  men,"  the  Trustees,  "  have  put  us 
in  a  position  in  which  we  are  bound  utterly  to  abhor,  rebuke,  and 
resist  their  deeds,  or  else  sink  to  their  moral  level  and  fall  beneath 
the  wrath  of  God."  The  reader  will  bear  in  mind  that  all  these 
Trustees,  of  whom  Dr.  Beecher  speaks,  except  two,  are  members  of 
evangelical  churches — two  of  them  are  ministers  of  the  Gospel. 
But  although  they  were  Christian  brethren,  yet  he  never  wearied  of 
denunciation  against  them.  "  If  there  be  anything  that  God  abhors, 
it  must  be  such  injustice  as  this  " — the  vote  to  request  Mr.  Blanchard 
to  resign !  "  If  this  is  not  moral  assassination,  I  know  not  what 
is."  It  was  actuated  by  "  enmity,  hatred  and  malignant  revenge." 
"  A  state  of  society  in  which  such  things  can  be  done  without  re- 
buke and  abhorrence  would  reduce  us  to  the  lowest  grade  of  moral 
degradation,  and  expose  us  to  the  righteous  judgments  of  God." 
The  address  contains  several  columns  of  matter  directed  especially 
against  Mr.  Gale.  Dr.  Beecher  finds  even  himself,  however,  ex- 


122  KNOX    COLLEGE. 

hausted  on  this  point  at  last,  and  thus  magnanimously  disposes  of 
his  victim:  "But  enough — the  subject  is  too  painful  and  humilia- 
ting to  pursue !  I  leave  Mr.  Gale  to  the  just  judgment  of  God !" 

Dr.  Beecher  seemed  to  fear  that  he  might  not  carry  his  hearers 
with  him  in  his  opposition  to  the  Board,  and  so  he  resorted  to  "  the 
terrors  of  the  law  "  for  assistance :  "  Has  the  fear  of  man,"  he  ex- 
claims, "  gained  so  portentous  an  ascendancy  and  risen  to  a  height 
so  impious  and  heaven-daring  that  men  quiver  like  an  aspen  before 
human  combinations  and  plottings,  and  are  not  afraid  of  the  wither- 
ing and  blasting  curse  of  Almighty  God?"  "What  would  God 
think  of  such  a  base  and  cowardly  indifference  to  wrong  ?"  "  Would 
not  his  curse  rest  upon  us  ?"  That  is,  if  the  people  should  be  willing 
to  allow  a  Presbyterian  to  become  President  of  the  College ! 

These  are  but  a  few  specimens  of  that  address — and  my  whole 
soul  loathes  the  rehearsal  of  even  these  few !  Is  it  any  wonder  that 
a  Galesburg  audience  of  a  thousand  persons  listened  to  that  address 
in  silent  amazement,  and  then  overwhelmed  with  applause  the  man 
who  arose  and  told  Dr.  Beecher  to  his  face  that  it  was  false  and 
slanderous  ?  Do  we  wonder  that  they  refused  it  the  very  cheap 
praise  of  a  vote  of  thanks  ?  Do  we  wonder  that  Doctor  Beecher 
has  never  recovered  and  never  will  recover  in  this  community,  from 
the  damaging  effect  of  his  own  document  ? 

Yet  this  address  was  only  the  beginning  of  a  warfare  which  he 
carried  on  during  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1857,  after  the  re- 
moval of  Mr.  Blanchard.  Week  after  week  witnessed  his  articles 
in  the  newspapers  published  in  Galesburg.  His  aim  was  to  create 
here,  if  possible,  a  prejudice  against  the  College  Board  and  against 
Presbyterianism  so  great  that  no  "Presbyterian  President"  would 
be  willing  to  trust  himself  in  our  midst.  The  same  spirit  pervaded 
these  later  writings  which  had  pervaded  the  address.  In  one  of  them 
Dr.  Beecher  says :  "  the  majority  in  removing  Mr.  Blanchard  can 
no  more  be  defended  than  they  could  if  they  had  poisoned  or  stab- 
bed him."  And  yet  Dr.  Beecher  had  before  that  time  declared  his 
opinion  that  Mr.  Blanchard  was  not  a  proper  man  to  be  President 
of  the  College.  In  another  he  speaks  of  the  Trustees  as  exhibiting 
a  "  spirit  malignant  and  revengeful."  In  a  third  they  are  represented 
as  seeking  "to  gratify  personal  hatred  and  revenge  and  sectarian 
bigotry."  A  statement  eminating  from  the  majority  is  said  by  him 
to  be  the  "  obvious  offspring  of  malignant  hatred  and  revenge."  The 
English  language,  fortunately,  is  not  fertile  in  terms  adapted  to  ex- 


"EIGHTS  OF  CONGREGATIONALISTS."  123 

press  so  much  wrath  as  Dr.  Beecher  had  in  his  heart  at  that  time. 
Its  vocabulary  furnished  him  with  a  few  such  terms  as  "  atrocious 
acts,  malignity,  hatred  and  revenge" — but  they  have  no  equivalent 
synonymes.  Hence  he  could  do  no  better  than  repeat  the  same 
language  over  and  over  again.  Yet  Dr.  Beecher  asserts — and  this 
Committee  assert — and  the  General  Association  assert,  that  all  this 
was  in  no  manner  a  "  personal  assault,"  either  upon  Mr.  Gale  or 
upon  the  College  Board,  but  on  the  contrary  was  in  spirit  and  in 
diction  "  eminently  Christian."  They  free  him  from  the  charge  of 
a  "  personal  attack  upon  Mr.  Gale  "  by  saying  that  "  the  criticisms 
which  he  passed  were  upon  Dr.  Gale  as  a  public  man  and  not  as  a 
private  individual."  Scholastic  Committee!  If  Dr.  Gale  as  "a 
public  man  "  has  been  guilty  of  "  atrocious  acts  of  dishonor,"  guided 
by  a  spirit  full  of  "  malignity  and  revenge,"  and  is  "  deserving  of 
disgrace  and  infamy,"  what  remains  worth  saving  of  the . "  private 
individual  "  of  the  same  name  ? 

On  the  TOth  day  of  September,  1857,  the  Presbytery  of  Peoria 
and  Knox  met  in  Galesburg.  Dr.  Beecher  had  then  been  engaged 
two  months  in  pouring  out  his  wrath  against  those  who  had  removed 
Mr.  Blanchard,  and  against  all  who  approved  their  action.  Of 
those  members  of  the  majority  of  the  College  Board  who  were 
Presbyterians,  nearly  all  were  connected  with  the  Churches  of  this 
Presbytery.  The  assault  of  Dr.  Beecher  was  thus  an  assault  upon 
this  body  of  such  a  character  that  they  could  not  be  indifferent  to 
it.  Moreover,  there  was  not  probably  in  all  the  Churches  of  that 
Presbytery  a  member  who  did  not  feel  that  the  removal  of  Mr. 
Blanchard  was  a  wise  and  righteous  act.  Their  objection  to  him 
was  not  grounded  upon  the  fact  that  he  was  a  Congregationalist, 
but  upon  strong  personal  objections  to  him  as  a  man.  They  ap- 
proved fully  the  action  of  the  Board  in  removing  him  from  his  office. 
Yet  Dr.  Beecher  had  hurled  maledictions,  not  only  against  the  Board, 
but  against  all  who  sustained  them  in  their  action.  He  had  even 
gone  so  far  as  to  assert  that  those  who  approved  of  their  action 
were  more  guilty  than  the  members  of  the  Board  by  whom  the  ac- 
tion had  been  taken.  He  had  characterized  the  action  of  the  Board 
as  an  "  atrocious  act  of  dishonor  and  injustice,"  and  then  imme- 
diately added,  "  God  even  makes  it  a  higher  grade  of  guilt  to  take 
pleasure  in  those  who  perform  atrocious  deeds  than  to  do  them." 
"  Those  who  can  coolly  look  on  and  see  atrocious  deeds,  without 
rebuke  and  even  with  pleasure,  are  totally  rotten  and  corrupt."1"1 


124  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

When  Dr.  Beecher  uttered  these  sentences  through  the  principal 
cities  of  the  State  he  knew  to  whom  they  applied.  They  were 
uttered  with  special  reference  to  the  Presbyterian  supporters  of  the 
College  Board. 

Under  these  circumstances,  that  Presbytery  met.  They  spent 
the  principal  part  of  two  days  in  a  calm  and  careful  inquiry  into 
the  facts  of  the  case,  and  then  adopted  the  paper  of  which  the 
Committee  so  bitterly  complain.  In  that  paper,  they  took  the  fol- 
lowing action : 

"  The  Presbytery  have  noticed  with  great  grief,  the  violent,  per- 
sonal assaults  which  have  been  made  by  the  Rev.  Edward  Beecher, 
in  the  public  papers,  and  also  in  public  addresses,  upon  the  Rev. 
G.  W.  Gale,  who  is  a  member  of  this  body.  We  regard  the 
assault,  in  manner  and  in  spirit,  as  an  open  violation  of  the  law 
of  Christ,  as  to  the  treatment  of  Christian  brethren.  Whatever 
may  have  been  his  own  opinion  concerning  the  correctness  of  the 
charges  he  has  made,  it  is  certain  that  he  has  not  pursued  the 
course  prescribed  in  the  New  Testament,  toward  an  erring  brother. 
In  view  of  the  fact,  that  these  very  grave  charges  have  been 
brought  against  Mr.  Gale,  without  any  inquiry  from  him  as  to  their 
correctness,  or  any  effort  to  lead  him  to  a  proper  acknowledgment 
of  them  if  correct,  and  that  very  extraordinary  efforts  have  been 
made  to  extend  the  knowledge  of  them,  far  and  wide  over  our 
whole  land,  we  are  compelled  to  say  that,  until  the  Rev.  Edward 
Beecher  shall  undo  the  wrong  he  has  committed  in  this  matter, 
we  must,  as  a  Presbytery,  regard  him  as  unworthy  of  our  confi- 
dence and  Christian  courtesy  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel" 

Could  that  Presbytery  have  retained  its  own  self-respect,  and 
not  have  done  what  it  did?  Could  they  have  asked  into  their  pul- 
pits, and  invited  to  share  in  their  deliberations  as  a  Presbytery,  a 
man  who  had  published  them  to  the  whole  world  as  "totally  rotten 
and  corrupt?"  Yet,  Dr.  Beecher  complains  of  this  action  as  tend- 
ing to  damage  his  Christian  standing  throughout  the  country.  Of 
course  it  does — and  just  so  long  as  he  continues  to  vindicate  his 
conduct,  and  thus  compel  that  Presbytery  to  hold  him  where  they 
now  do,  he  must  expect  to  suffer  more  and  more  damage  from  that 
action.  He  has  been  invited  again  and  again  to  meet  the  Presby- 
tery and  explain  his  conduct  if  he  could,  so  as  to  allow  them  to 
recall  their  action  against  him.  But  he  refuses  to  do  it.  He  must 
rest  assured,  that  just  so  long  as  he  continues  to  be  "joined  to  his 
idols,"  just  so  long  will  this  Presbytery  "let  him  alone."  A  most 
unhappy  affair  this  is,  but  the  whole  responsibility  of  it  rests  en- 
tirely upon  Dr.  Beecher.  The  Committee,  in  their  Report,  ask  with 


"EIGHTS  OF  CONGREGATIONALISTS."  125 

an  exultant  tone,  "Did  the  Presbytery  think  that  their  mere 
assertion  would  destroy  the  reputation  of  Edward  Beecher  ?  "  To 
this  question  I  reply  that  the  Presbytery  had  no  ambition  to  rival 
Dr.  Beecher  in  the  work  of  destroying  reputations.  They  were 
and  are  content  to  leave  him  alone  in  his  glory,  so  far  as  that 
work  is  concerned.  But  not  even  "  the  reputation  of  Edward 
Beecher ! "  can  deliver  him  from  the  crushing  weight  of  that  action 
of  Presbytery,  so  calm  and  so  just,  until  "  he  shall  undo  the  wrong  " 
which  he  has  committed. 

15.  The  Committee  have  labored  very  earnestly  to  prove  that  Dr. 
Gale  has  been  guilty  of  many  "  inaccuracies  and  self-contradictions  " 
in  the  statements  which  he  has  made  at  different  times,  concerning 

7  O 

the  College.  Their  efforts  to  destroy  public  confidence  in  his  state- 
ments show  very  clearly  that  they  regard  him  as  an  important 
witness.  He  originated  the  Plan  which  resulted  in  founding  Knox 
College.  He  has  been  here,  closely  connected  with  it,  from  the  be- 
ginning of  its  history.  He  is  better  acquainted  with  all  that  history 
than  any  other  man.  Hence,  his  testimony  will  have  great  weight 
with  the  public,  unless  in  some  way  its  force  can  be  weakened. 
This  the  Committee  have  worked  hard  to  do.  Whether  this  effort 
on  their  part,  toward  a  man  who  has  done  the  public  so  much  good 
service,  is  magnanimous,  I  leave  that  public  to  judge.  However,  if 
Dr.  Gale  has  been  as  unwise  and  inconsistent  as  this  Committee 
represent  him,  I  will  offer  no  apology  for  him,  except  merely  to  re- 
mark that  the  men  who  could  publish  as  truth  such  a  document  as 
this  "  Rights  of  Congregationalists,"  ought  to  be  the  last  men  in 
the  world  to  taunt  him  with  "  inaccuracies  and  self-contradictions." 
The  public  will  be  able  to  judge  correctly  concerning  his  statements 
when  the  following  things  are  taken  into  account : 

First,  then,  it  is  not  denied  that,  in  a  few  instances,  Dr.  Gale  has 
been  inaccurate  in  some  of  his  statements.  But  these  inaccuracies 
are  of  trifling  importance,  and  do  not  relate  in  any  case  to  the  main 
fact  involved.  They  are  confined  wholly  to  details  and  matters  of 
minor  moment.  They  are  just  such  inaccuracies  as  almost  every 
man  would  fall  into,  who  related  matters  which  had  occurred  many 
years  before,  without  first  consulting  documents.  As  an  instance 
of  this  kind,  over  which  the  Committee  make  quite  an  ado,  Mr.  Gale 
stated  in  one  of  his  published  articles,  that  Mr.  Simmons  had  started 
to  go  West  on  his  own  business,  before  he  was  appointed  on  the 
Purchasing  Committee ;  when  the  truth  was,  as  Mr.  Simmons  testi- 


126  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

fies,  he  was  notified  of  his  appointment  before  he  left  his  home. 
This  is  one  of  the  most  noted  instances  of  actual  inaccuracy  pointed 
out  by  the  Committee  !  " Ridiculus  mus/" 

Again,  it  is  admitted  here  that  Mr.  Gale  has  sometimes  stated 
facts  in  general  terms,  and  also  amounts  in  round  numbers, 
which  were  either  a  little  more  or  a  little  less  than  the  exact  fact, 
although  true  in  substance.  As  a  marked  instance  of  this  sort  of 
general  statement  noticed  by  the  Committee,  Mr.  Gale  once  wrote, 
a  year  and  a  half  ago,  that  "  the  names  of  Simmons  and  Tompkins 
were  not  inserted  in  the  title  to  the  land  "  bought  by  the  Purchasing 
Committee ;  when  the  truth  was,  that  the  name  of  Simmons,  but 
not  of  Tompkins,  was  inserted  in  the  deeds  for  the  410  acres  of 
cultivated  and  timber  land  first  bought,  but  in  no  others.  More 
than  10,000  acres  were  bought  afterward,  in  the  deeds  for  which, 
neither  of  their  names  appeared.  Mr.  Gale's  reputation  will  probably 
survive  that  "  inaccuracy  "  which  appeared  so  great  in  the  eyes  of 
the  Committee  that  they  devote  to  it  one  entire  article,  under  the 
capital  letter  "K"  in  their  Appendix.  But  now  notice  this,  that  the 
Committee,  after  showing  that  Mr.  Simmons?  name  did  appear  in 
the  deeds  for  410  acres,  then  leave  the  public  to  draw  the  broad 
inference  that  his  name  is  found  in  the  deeds  for  all  the  other 
10,000  acres !  "Who  was  most  "  inaccurate  "  in  this  matter  ? 

Again,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind,  that  much  of  the  pretended 
"  inaccuracy  "  of  Mr.  Gale  consists  in  the  mere  fact  that  his  state- 
ments do  not  agree  with  those  of  the  Committee,  This  Committee 
"investigated"  so  thoroughly  all  the  points  involved  in  their  Report, 
and  proved  them  so  clearly,  by  comparing  them  "  paragraph  by 
paragraph  with  the  evidence  sustaining  each  position,"  that  any 
man  whose  statement  differs  from  theirs  is,  of  course,  "  inaccurate." 
I  can  say  nothing  in  defense  of  Mr.  Gale,  on  this  charge.  The 
Committee  will  find  him  "  inaccurate  "  beyond  all  hope  of  remedy, 
if  they  make  their  Report  the  standard  of  truth. 

But  once  again,  it  is  a  serious  fact  that  the  most  important  errors 
charged  against  Mr.  Gale,  result  wholly  from  a  studied  perversion  of 
his  language,  whether  by  the  Committee,  or  by  some  one  else  for 
them,  I  do  not  say.  For  instance,  when  Mr.  Gale  declares  the  fact 
that  the  Subscribers  were  not  all  prepared  to  pay  their  subscriptions 
at  the  time  the  Purchasing  Committee  were  sent  out,  the  subscrip- 
tions not  yet  being  due,  and  that  therefore  he  and  Mr.  Ferris  bor- 
rowed at  the  bank  $10,000,  the  Committee  so  pervert  this  clear 


"EIGHTS  OF  CONGKEGATIONALISTS 


"  127 


statement  of  the  exact  truth  as  to  make  Mr.  Gale  prove  that  those 
Subscribers  never  paid  their  subscription  !     On  pp.  58  and  59  of  the 
Report,  occur  several  just  such  instances  as  the  above.     I  cannot  be 
persuaded  that  the  man  who  drew  up  that  Appendix  was  ignorant 
of  the  fact  that  he  was  making  Mr.  Gale  prove  the  very  opposite  of 
what  he  has  always  explicitly  claimed  to  be  true.     The  statement 
of  Mr.   Gale   was   clear   enough.     It   was   possible  to  pervert  it, 
and   accordingly  it  was   perverted.      As   it  is   not   my  object  to 
answer  every  charge  of  this  kind  of  inaccuracy  brought  against  Mr. 
Gale,  but  only  to  indicate  where  the  answer  may  be  found  in  all 
these  cases,  I  will  leave  this  remarkable  Report  without  further  ex- 
amination.    The  reader  must  feel  by  this  time  that  the  Report  is 
totally  unworthy  of  confidence.     The  men  who  drew  it  up  never 
investigated,  as  they  were  required  to  do,  and  as  the  public  have 
supposed  was  done,  the  great  questions  which  they  have  nevertheless 
ventured  to  answer  so  positively.     The  materials  of  that  Report  were 
prepared  for  them  when  they  came  to  Galesburg.     While  here  they 
carefully  avoided  the  office  of  the  College  Treasurer  and  Secretary, 
where  they  could  have  found  documentary  evidence  for  every  im- 
portant point  to  be  determined.     They  preferred  rather  to  collect 
here  and  there  such  random  statements  of  interested  parties  as  could 
be  used  to  prove  a  conclusion  already  adopted.     These  materials 
they  wove  into  a  Report  which  has  been  scattered  through  all  the 
West  and  the  East,  wherever  it  could  possibly  do  injury  to  Knox 

College. 

And  now  I  ask  this  Committee,  what  they  will  do  with  their  Re- 
port? Will  they  continue  to  circulate  it  as  they  have  done  thus  far, 
with  all  its  errors,  to  perpetuate  the  wrong  against  the  College  which 
has  already  been  wrought  by  it  ?  The  Committee  cannot  free  them- 
selves from  responsibility  in  this  matter.  They  have  wronged  the 
College— undesignedly,  "through  ignorance,"  I  trust.  But  now, 
when  they  read  the  College  records— when  they  see  the  facts  con- 
tained in  the  books  of  its  Treasury— when  they  hear  the  voice  of 
its  founders,  will  they  disregard  all  this,  and  still  allow  their  Report 
to  go  as  though  it  were  true  ?  They  cannot  deny  the  truth  and 
force  of  the  documents  published  in  this  pamphlet.  If  they  think 
they  are  not  correct,  or  do  not  correctly  represent  the  facts  of  the 
case,  they  are  bound  to  show  it  by  examining  those  documents  for 
themselves.  The  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the  College  would 
gladly  have  given  them  the  opportunity  to  do  this  when  they  were 


128  KNOX    COLLEGE. 

„       \ 

in  Galesburg.  They  will  as  gladly  give  them  this  opportunity  here- 
after if  they  desire  it.  Those  officers  certify  that  the  documents 
here  published  are  correctly  given,  and  do  present  the  true  history 
of  the  College.  It  is  not,  therefore,  a  question  of  judgment,  or  of 
veracity,  between  me  and  the  Committee.  The  question  lies  be- 
tween the  Committee,  and  the  College  and  its  founders.  If  the 
College  records  and  other  documents  are  not  correct,  and  if  the 
founders  of  the  College  are  mistaken  concerning  themselves,  the 
Committee  must  show  it ;  or  else  they  must  not  only  recall  their 
Report,  but  also  inform  the  public  that  they  were  mistaken,  and  that 
the  Report  is  not  true.  If  the  Committee  mean  to  deal  honestly  with 
the  College  they  must  do  this.  If  they  mean  to  deal  honestly  with 
their  own  denomination  and  with  the  public,  they  must  do  this.  The 
College,  the  Church,  and  the  whole  public,  will  turn  their  eyes  upon 
this  Committee  to  see  what  they  will  do. 

Knox  College  was  founded  by  wise  and  good  men,  who  conse- 
crated it  to  the  interests  of  sound  learning,  and  of  manly  culture  in 
the  service  of  "  Christ  and  the  Church."  They  founded  it  in  order 
that  it  might  aid  in  establishing  the  kingdom  of  Christ  among  men. 
To  accomplish  this  noble  mission  it  must  be  administered  with  wis- 
dom and  justice  and  the  highest  Christian  principle.  Its  founders 
were  not  ignorant  of  this  fact,  nor  were  they  indifferent  to  it.  That 
it  might  be  directed  always  toward  the  end  for  which  it  had  been 
established,  they  expected  and  intended  that  it  would  be  controlled 
mainly  by  men  belonging,  like  themselves,  to  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  By  this,  however,  they  did  not  mean  to  subject  it  to  any 
"  ecclesiastical "  control,  nor  did  they  mean  that  it  was  to  be  in  any 
sense  a  "sectarian"  College.  No  denomination,  as  such,  was  ever 
to  have  any  voice  in  its  control.  It  was  to  be  used,  not  to  build  up 
a  sect,  but  to  educate  youth,  of  every  and  any  sect.  It  was  to  be  a 
College  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  Church  and  the  whole  State. 
That  it  may  become  such  a  College,  it  must  be  elevated  above  the 
reach  of  sectarian  and  denominational  strife.  Its  Board  must  not 
be  the  scene  of  angry  struggles  between  jarring  sectaries  for  party 
pre-eminence.  There  must  be  no  such  equipoise  of  rival  sects  as  to 
cause  the  Board  to  hesitate  to  appoint  any  evangelic  man  to  its 
corps  of  instructors,  who  is  exactly  qualified  for  the  post,  from  any 
fear  that  his  weight  will  be  thrown  into  the  one  scale  or  the  other, 
and  disturb  the  "  balance."  The  word  "  sect "  or  "  denomination" 
must  not  be  heard  or  known  in  its  Board,  except  merely  to  keep  that 


KNOX    COLLEGE.  129 

Board  true  to  the  Church  from  which  the  College  sprung,  and  thus 
keep  the  College  true  to  the  end  for  which  it  was  called  into  exist- 
ence. This  is  what  its  founders  intended  for  Knox  College.  It  was 
administered  true  to  this  principle  during  its  early  years.  After  a 
time,  secretly  and  steadily,  a  rival  "  sect "  sprung  up  within  its 
Board,  and,  in  the  hour  of  its  strength,  struggled  hard  to  make  the 
College  "  sectarian."  Against  this  attempt  the  majority  of  the 
Board,  men  of  various  denominations,  set  themselves,  resolutely  and 
righteously.  They  were  and  are  determined  that  Knox  College 
shall  be  what  its  founders  intended  it  to  be.  It  will  thus  be  planted 
upon  the  same  platform  as  that  which  has  so  long  given  stability  and 
success  to  our  Eastern  Colleges.  In  New  England,  every  College 
but  one,  is  so  under  the  predominating  control  of  some  one  denomi- 
nation, as  to  lift  them  above  all  danger  from  sectarian  strife.  In 
Harvard  alone,  do  we  hear  the  sound  of  war,  and  the  cause  there  is  the 
departure  from  the  broad  principle  which  gives  peace  to  all  the  rest. 
Unitarian  Congregationalism  and  Orthodox  Congregationalism  in 
New  England,  although  one  sprang  out  of  the  other,  as  did  Minerva 
from  the  brain  of  Jove,  cannot  live  peacefully  together,  and  cannot 
harmonize,  even  in  the  control  of  a  College.  Hence  Harvard  is  the 
arena  of  strife.  Yale,  and  Williams,  and  Amherst,  have  no  such 
trouble,  because  Orthodox  Congregatioualists  are  in  them  the  su- 

7  O  O 

preme  power.  While  human  nature  remains  anywhere  near  what  it 
is  no\v,  no  equal  division  of  denominations  in  a  College  Board,  un- 
accompanied by  strife,  will  long  be  possible.  Slowly,  it  may  be, 
but  surely  one  party  will  gain  the  permanent  ascendancy  over  the 
others.  In  the  last  number  of  the  New  Englander  is  an  article 
headed  "  Denominational  Colleges,"  by  a  writer  well  known  as 
President  of  one  of  our  Western  Colleges.  The  arguments  of  that 
writer,  while  evidently  aimed  at  some  other  institution  than  the  one 
over  which  he  presides,  are,  nevertheless,  like  that  famous  weapon  of 
the  warrior  of  Madagascar,  which,  when  hurled,  however  fur  away, 
is  said  always  to  return  and  strike  at  the  very  feet  of  him  who  hurled 
it.  In  that  article  the  writer  uses  this  language  :  "  It  is  within  the 
memory  of  men  yet  not  far  from  the  meridian  of  life,  that  the 
thought  had  scarcely  been  entertained  by  any  mind,  that  a  College 
should  be  in  any  sense  the  representative  of  a  sect;  or,  that  such 
Colleges  as  Princeton,  and  Columbia,  and  Yale,  were  not  suitable 
for  the  education  of  any  American  youth,  whatever  might  be  the 
religious  views  of  his  parents."  Leaving  the  writer  to  reconcile,  if 
9 


. 

130  KNOX   COLLEGE. 

he  can,  this  language  with  the  evident  bearing  of  his  whole  argu- 
ment, I  desire  heartily  to  commend  all  that  is  involved  in  the  refer- 
ence he  has  made  to  the  three  Colleges  named.  Those  Colleges 
have  long  been  eminently  successful.  They  have  deserved,  as  they 
have  received  abundantly,  the  confidence  and  patronage  of  the 
public.  No  discord  disturbs  the  harmony  of  their  operations.  And 
the  reason  is,  that  each  one  is  under  the  controlling  influence  of 
members  of  a  single  denomination.  Princeton  is  well  known  as 
Presbyterian,  Columbia  as  Episcopalian,  and  Yale  as  Congrega- 
tional. We  ask  only  that  Knox  College  may  be  planted  upon  that 
same  foundation,  which  has  proved  so  strong  and  immovable  in  the 
case  of  Yale  and  Columbia,  and  Princeton.  Its  founders  placed  it 
upon  exactly  such  a  foundation.  There  it  will  be  kept  by  its  Board 
hereafter.  That  which  renders  Eastern  Colleges  stable  will  give 
stability  to  Colleges  at  the  West.  And  nothing  else  will. 

Knox  College  is  open  to  all  denominations  and  to  all  classes  alike. 
It  oifers  to  educate  a  Congregational  youth  just  as  fully  as  it  does 
one  who  is  Presbyterian.  And  this  offer  extends  to  all  denomina- 
tions. Congregationalists  complain  that  they  can  no  longer  patron- 
ize it — that  they  are  driven  from  it.  How  this  can  be  I  do  not 
know,  unless  it  be  impossible  for  them  to  patronize  a  College  not 
wholly  their  own.  Presbyterian  young  men  find  no  difficulties  of 
conscience  in  attending  the  Congregational  Colleges  of  New  Eng- 
land. Why  may  not  a  Congregational  youth  attend  a  College  that 
is  largely  controlled,  though  not  wholly,  by  his  own  denomination 
here  at  the  West?  Does  the  partial  Presbyterianism  of  the  Board 
affect  the  quality  of  the  studies,  so  that  the  very  same  course  of  in- 
struction, which  was  of  measureless  benefit  under  a  Congregational 
Board,  ceases  to  be  valuable  when  the  "  sect"  loses  power?  Have 
our  Congregational  brethren  in  Illinois  at  last  come  to  that?  I  do 
not  think  so.  The  Congregational  body  of  this  State  has  been  misled 
by  a  few  men,  who  have  wished  to  avenge  themselves  upon  the  College 
for  refusing  to  be  perverted  from  its  original  design.  They  have  been 
persuaded  that  they  have  been  deprived  of  all  their  rights  here. 
They  have  been  led  to  believe  that  the  College  is  henceforth  to  be 
used  for  narrow  and  sectarian  ends.  All  this  is  false.  The  narrow- 
ness and  "  sectarianism,"  that  for  a  few  years  past  were  sinking  it 
in  the  popular  esteem  throughout  the  State,  are  now  removed.  The 
College  now  is  devoted  to  a  higher  mission  than  that  of  merely  re- 
flecting the  opinions  and  peculiarities  of  one  man.  It  has  a  noble 


KNOX   COLLEGE.  131 

endowment,  which  is  becoming  more  fully  available  every  day.  It 
has  a  Faculty  more  in  numbers  and  wiser  in  experience  than  it  has 
ever  had  before ;  and  they  are  all  of  one  heart,  and  are  all  devoted 
to  the  prosperity  of  the  College.  The  dividing  line  of  denomina- 
tions is  not  known  within  the  sphere  of  the  College  Faculty.  The 
College  buildings  are  new  and  massive  structures — an  ornament  to 

O  O 

the  city,  and  an  honor  to  the  Institution.  The  course  of  studies  is 
the  same  as  that  of  the  first  Colleges  of  New  England.  Knox 
College  is  an  honor  to  the  State  of  Illinois.  If  Congregationalists 
cannot  patronize  such  an  Institution,  the  fault  is  with  them  and  not 
with  the  College.  The  College  was  founded  in  prayer — it  was  con- 
secrated to  the  good  of  man — it  has  secured  an  endowment  by  a 
marvellous  providence — it  has  advanced  with  rapid  strides  to  the 
front  rank  of  similar  institutions — it  has  manifestly  a  noble  destiny 
before  it.  The  sympathies  of  the  people,  who  dwell  on  these  broad 
prairies,  cannot  be  turned  away  from  such  an  institution.  ITS  PROS- 
PERITY IS  THEIR  GLORY — ITS  ADVERSITY  WILL  BE  THEIR  MISFORTUNE. 

Whoever,  therefore,  may  oppose  it,  and  whatever  temporary  evils  it 
may  suffer,  it  will  still  move  onward,  in  unwavering  faith  in  that 
sublime  truth  unfolded  in  those  hopeful  words — JEHOVAH-JIEEH  ! 


01934 


